Alessio Di Chirico has announced his retirement from MMA following a disappointing loss to Roman Kopylov at UFC Paris over the weekend.
The Italian middleweight was knocked out in the third round by Kopylov, suffering his second straight loss, and fifth in his last six fights.
Di Chirico announced the news on social media on Tuesday, in a heartfelt statement.
“I wrote this message hundreds of times, hot blooded, cold blooded, alone, after talking about it with the people I love and every version got me crying,” the 32-year old wrote. “This is a message to all my fans: you’ve been crazy last night in Paris, I really felt your presence into the octagon. Every shot I ate was less painful because of you, you were my shield. At the beginning of the second round when I realized I couldn’t take him down, that he was taller and faster than me I thought ‘I don’t care I’ve got so many people behind me let’s make it the hard way, I’m not going to feel any pain.'”
“Sadly, it was not enough. Sadly I gave you another defeat.”
“I can’t think about how hard the people who really love me suffered for me and with me throughout my entire career, I’m sorry for every one who just cared about me even if we don’t know each other, I’m so grateful. I think it’s time to move to another chapter in my life. I know that’s no coming back from there, I know I will miss it so badly. I know it’s the right time to stop. Thank you so much for being here with me in my last battle.”
Di Chirico finishes his run in MMA with a professional record of 13-7. He began his career going 9-0, and landed in the UFC in 2016, suffering his first defeat in his debut. He would bounce back with a victory over Garreth McLellan, but would win just three more times, while suffering six more defeats. His most notable victories were his two most recent, against Julian Marquez, and a stunning head kick KO of Joaquin Buckley.
Despite posting just a 4-7 record in the UFC, Alessio Di Chirico earned two Performance of the Night bonuses during his tenure with the organization.
