UFC: Te Huna mulling his options

Kiwi James Te Huna lost in the first round at the maiden UFC event in New Zealand. Photo / Getty

James Te Huna will take time off for shoulder surgery following his loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC Fight Night 43 and hasn't ruled out the possibility of retiring.

The Kiwi middleweight suffered a frustrating first-round loss to Marquardt when he was forced to tap out to an armbar at Vector Arena in Auckland on Saturday night, in an event which marked the UFC's first trip to New Zealand.

Te Huna moved down from light heavyweight for the bout but another defeat means he has dropped his past three fights in the UFC, while three of his previous four defeats have come via submission.

The 32-year-old, one of the leading exports from New Zealand in mixed martial arts, has had to deal with a growing list of injuries in recent years, which have hurt his ability to prepare for fights.

Te Huna refused to use an ailment as an excuse and proudly declared he was never going to miss the opportunity to headline Saturday's card despite breaking his hand in the lead-up, dislocating a shoulder during training camp and suffering a labral tear in his hip only a few weeks before the contest.

"Over the last three months it was hard," Te Huna told the Herald. "I had so many opportunities to pull out of the fight but I didn't, I didn't want to. I've never pulled out of a fight in my life before."

Te Huna (16-8) even dislocated a finger during his warm-ups only moments before entering the octagon on Saturday night.

The Darfield-born fighter will meet with his shoulder specialist when he returns to Sydney this week, which will determine how long he will be out of action for, while he will spend time fishing to relax.

Te Huna has fights remaining on his contract but when asked if retirement was in his thoughts, he didn't shoot the suggestion down.

"I'm not too sure. I've just got to get up [on the water to go fishing] and just re-think things and see what my next plan is and see what I'm going to do," Te Huna said.

"I'll make sure I make the right decisions and I'll have an answer."

Te Huna had spoken to Kiwi UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt who went through a rough patch in his own career when the Super Samoan lost six straight fights between 2006-2010.

"He said there was a stage in his career where things weren't working out too good, but he stuck to his guns and stayed positive and got through it," Te Huna said of Hunt's advice.

"He's been there and done that and he's someone I can trust. He's a genuine person and when he speaks, he speaks the truth."

The UFC confirmed on Saturday they will stage a show in Sydney later this year but if Te Huna was to fight again he may be unavailable due to his injured shoulder.

He also said he had few problems cutting to middleweight and felt comfortable there before Saturday's bout.