One of the most popular British UFC fighters in recent memory, 37-year-old featherweight Mike Grundy, has announced his retirement from Mixed Martial Arts.
Whilst Grundy failed to earn widespread success in the UFC octagon, the fan-favorite featherweight has certainly left his mark on the British MMA scene and now enters a new chapter of his life, as a coach to his son Jack.
British featherweight Mike Grundy had a tough time in the UFC
Mike Grundy made his UFC debut in 2019 and in just his second fight in the promotion, was matched up against an athlete who many consider to be a future champion in the form of Movsar Evloev back in 2020.
Whilst Grundy showed his grit and determination against Evloev, his schedule certainly didn’t get any easier in his next two bouts: a close split decision defeat to Lando Vannata in 2021, before losing via submission to Makwan Amirkhani in 2022.
After going 1-3 in the UFC, and not having a professional MMA fight since the clash with Amirkhani, Grundy announced over the weekend that he would be stepping away from the sport.
Mike Grundy announces retirement from Mixed Martial Arts
Taking to social media, Grundy confirmed his retirement from MMA, closing out this chapter of his career with a professional record of 12-4 – eight of those victories coming by way of submission.
“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 it’s not because I feel old and finished. But after discussion with some big organisations it’s just not working out,” Grundy posted online.
“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 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 chance to teach my kids to never give up on your goals if you really want something you can go get it,” said the fan-favorite veteran, adding “Although I didn’t become a world champion I worked my a** off and never left no stone unturned.”
Grundy thanked his teammates, coaches, friends, and family alike for supporting him over the course of his illustrious career: “There was nothing more I could do I really did live the life and made it to the highest levels…Hope I inspired many more to do the same.”
Yet if all goes to plan, we could very well see Mike Grundy back in the UFC octagon one day – not as a fighter, but as a coach and trainer to his son Jack, who is himself an amateur MMA athlete with a record of 6-1.
Speaking to MMA UK in 2022, Jack Grundy was asked whether it was always his desire to follow his father into Mixed Martial Arts: “Yeah, it has always been that way, the same with wrestling and now with MMA, I always want to follow in my dad’s footsteps in the cage and also out.”
Grundy himself ended his retirement message by giving four key pieces of advice to young fighters who are only just starting out in the sport: “Find a good team, remain loyal to them, work hard but smart, and enjoy the process.”
“I will now focus on my family @jackgrundy04 fight career and my coaching duties and start to build my online academy along with running @elite_fitnessfactory @teamkaobon_wigan and teaching seminars New goals pending ..ill Thank you all for the support you have all been pure class. I’m out.”
We wish the best of luck to both Mike and Jack Grundy.