Former UFC featherweight Mike Grundy has announced his retirement.
The 37-year old from Liverpool, England has not competed since a March 2022 loss to Makwan Amirkhani at UFC London, the promotion’s first event back in the U.K. since the onset of COVID-19.
That technical submission loss was Grundy’s third straight, dropping him to 1-3 in the promotion in a tough run that saw him paired up with the likes of Movsar Evloev and Lando Vannata.
Grundy, a former BAMMA standout and Commonwealth Games medal winner, began his pro fighting career in Manchester in 2014, running up an 11-1 record before signing with the UFC in 2019. He would win his octagon debut against Nad Narimani before hitting the slide that would end his career, coinciding with his father being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Dave Grundy passed away in April of 2023; his father’s absence was one factor in Mike Grundy’s decision to close out his career, he said in a statement released Saturday.
“That’s the end of the journey for me now in MMA. I’m retiring. I was looking to fight again but it’s just not meant to be,” wrote Grundy. “It’s not because I feel old and finished, but after discussion with some big organizations, it’s just not working out.”
“But what a journey it has been, 31 years of combat sports where I have reached and won at the highest level in freestyle wrestling and mixed martial arts,” he continued. “I am proud to be a commonwealth games medalist and a UFC fighter. One of my biggest achievements in my career was that I got a chance to teach my kids to never give up on your goals. If you really want something you can go get it. Although I didn’t become a world champion I worked my ass off and never left no stone unturned.”
Thanking wife Debbie and his parents, Grundy added that “it just wasn’t the same without my dad.”
Grundy closed out his statement with some advice to young fighters and added that he’ll be focusing on the fighting career of his son, Jack Grundy. The younger Grundy is 6-1 as an amateur in MMA.
