Chad Mendes Retires from Combat Sports Following BKFC 41 Defeat

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Chad Mendes is stepping away from combat sports for good.

The former UFC featherweight contender called it a career following a loss to Eddie Alvarez in the BKFC 41 co-main event on Saturday night. Mendes announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in 2019 but later signed with BKFC, where he split a pair of appearances.

“I’ve been going back and forth with this. Obviously I retired from the UFC back in 2018, and I was honestly done. I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into a few businesses and just spending the family quality time that I love doing,” Mendes said at the BKFC 41 post-fight press conference.

“I had no desire [to fight], but something like this came up, and obviously the pay is really good, and it’s something that’s new, which kind of excited me, so I did it. I was done after that first one, but then they dangled somebody like this dude [Alvarez] in front of me, so I was like, ‘All right, I’ll do one more. This could be the retirement fight.’”

Mendes, who is 37 years old, believes now is the time to focus on family and other endeavors.

“I just don’t need to be doing this s—t anymore,” Mendes said. “It’s fun, but I feel like at this point I’m just being selfish. I’ve got a solid family that loves me, and I’ve got other things in the works that I pour my heart and soul into to be successful at. But man, that was one hell of a fight.”

Mendes went 18-5 as a pro in MMA, with victories over the likes of Ricardo Lamas, Clay Guida, Darren Elkins and Cub Swanson during his tenure. He exited the UFC upon losing four of his final six bouts.

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