Joe Duffy announced his retirement from mixed martial arts on Saturday night. The decision came immediately following defeat to Joel Álvarez on the preliminary card at a UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi.
The fight was Duffy's first in 16 months and the defeat, which came via a guillotine choke in the lightweight bout, was his third in a row.
Álvarez, a 27-year-old Spaniard, submitted Duffy after just 2:25 of the opening round.
"Thank you all so much for all your messages of support all week," the Donegal-born fight wrote on Instagram.
"I have been blessed on this journey in MMA and am truly grateful for every experience.
"I felt great all through camp and even warming up, I believed I was back to my former self then when I went in there it just falls to pieces.
"I think it’s time to realize that I haven’t got what it takes any more.
"Congrats to Joel Alvarez and thank you to the UFC for all the opportunities. I’m sorry I didn’t achieve what I set out to achieve for my fans, family, friends and myself but it just wasn’t meant to be.
"I am officially retiring from MMA competition."
Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
