Charles Byrd is officially done with MMA.
On Saturday, the middleweight fought Maki Pitolo on the preliminary card of UFC 250 and the result ended with Bryd suffering a second round TKO loss. Going in, the middleweight was in the midst of a two-fight losing streak, also dropping bouts to Darren Stewart and Edmen Shahbazyan.
Understandably frustrated, the fighter has expressed his disappointment on the direction his career thus far, and in turn, Byrd has decided to walk away from the sport for good:
“I’ve never been afraid to fail or try. Never thought I’d say this at this moment but I’m ok and accepting that sometimes things in life don’t go as expected”, says Bryd in statement on Facebook. “Mentally and physically prepared for this bout. But the outcome didn’t go my way. I’m ready to explore that next chapter and path God has for me. I appreciate the love and support from everyone friends and family through this journey I call my fight career. Achieved many great things for myself and developed alot of memories. But time waits for no man. So with that said I’m officially done with fighting.”
Despite leaving the sport on a three-fight losing streak, Byrd saw some success during the early portion of his UFC career. The 36-year-old started fighting professionally back in 2009 and competed for Legacy Promotions, Legacy Fighting Championship, and AXS TV Fights before making the transition over to the big MMA promotion.
Byrd was discovered by the UFC President on Dana White’s Contender Series and made a successful debut against John Phillips at UFC Fight Night 127. Then, the middleweight was in the midst of a nice four-fight winning streak; however, his bout against Darren Stewart broke his momentum and Byrd was unable to recover from that devastating loss ever since. Byrd leaves the sport with a record of 10 wins and 7 losses.