Australian light heavyweight Tyson Pedro has officially announced his retirement from the UFC, following a unanimous decision loss to the undefeated Vitor Petrino.
Pedro, 32, announced his decision to leave the sport during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, saying that his dreams and aspirations have changed and developed outside of the octagon.
The Sydney native retires from the sport with a 10-5 record, including a hometown KO win at UFC 293 in Sydney in 2023.
Tyson Pedro retires from UFC after 11-year career
It has been an impressive career for Pedro, who leaves the sport with a 10-5 record, 6-5 in the UFC.
👏👏👏
— UFC (@ufc) March 2, 2024
Thank you for all the memories, @Tyson_Pedro_ #UFCVegas87 pic.twitter.com/PSSrre7i7O
Speaking after what would be his final fight, Pedro acknowledged that things hadn't gone to plan, but he was still grateful for every opportunity he had been given.
"I didn't want to take away from his win, obviously, I had a bit of a different plan going this way, so it wasn't the best performance," Pedro said.
"Thank you to all the fans, I wanted to say thank you very much to UFC for everything they've done on this journey, especially thanks to my team, anyone that's helped me get to this stage of my martial arts career.
"It's been amazing, but it's always been my intention to show my daughter that as long as you work your ass off and grind towards what you love, you can do anything you can dream of, and I think my dreams have just changed at this point.
"So that's it for me with UFC, thank you to all the fans, from the bottom of my heart, don't think it's goodbye it's see you later.
"Until then, thanks, everyone."
Pedro suffers unanimous decision loss in final fight
On what was an emotional night for Pedro, he was unable to go out on a win, with Vitor Petrino claiming a unanimous decision: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
This was Petrino's 11th straight win, with the Brazillian still yet to lose a fight in his professional career.
Petrino said that Pedro was a formidable opponent, but that the game plan was to show how much more improved he has become.
"The plan was actually to show how complete of an MMA fighter I was," Petrino said.
"I think I dominated up top, I was able to control them on the ground. The finish wasn't there, no knockout, but I did show the organisation how much a better fighter, how more complete I became."
Tyson Pedro career stats
Pedro retires from MMA with a 10-5 record, with every one of his wins coming via some sort of stoppage.
- Fights: 15
- Wins: 10
- KO/TKO wins: 5
- Submission wins: 5
- Losses: 5
- KO/TKO losses: 1
- Submission losses: 1
- Decision losses: 3