Alessio Di Chirico announces MMA retirement after UFC Paris loss: 'It's the right time to stop'

Italian fighter Alessio Di Chirico says he’s hanging up the gloves after a loss this past Saturday in Paris.

Di Chirico (13-7 MMA, 4-7 UFC) was stopped by Roman Kopylov (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) with a on the main card at UFC Fight Night 209 at Accor Arena. The event was the UFC’s debut in France.

The loss was the middleweight’s fifth in his past six fights dating back a little more than three years. Di Chirico posted his retirement announcement on his Twitter account.

“I wrote this message hundreds of times, hot blooded, cold blooded, alone, after talking about it with the people I love and every version got me crying.

“This is a message to all my fans: … Sadly, it was not enough. Sadly I gave you another defeat.

“I can’t think about how hard the people who really love me suffered for me and with me throughout my career, I’m sorry for every one who just cared about me even if we don’t know each other, I’m so grateful.

“I think it’s time to move to another chapter in my life.

“I know that’s not coming back from there, I know I will miss it so badly. I know it’s the right time to stop. …”

. pic.twitter.com/ajxVpPYuHe

— Alessio 'Manzo' Di Chirico (@ManzoDiChirico) September 6, 2022

The 32-year-old Di Chirico started his pro career 9-0 and came to the UFC in 2016. His promotional debut was a decision loss to Bojan Velickovic in Croatia. He rebounded with a split call win over Garreth McLellan later that year, but was stopped for the first time in his career when Eric Spicely submitted him in January 2017.

Things appeared to be going in the right direction after that, though. Following a layoff of nearly a year, Di Chirico knocked out Oluwale Bamgbose in Canada and picked up his first UFC post-fight bonus check. He followed that win up with a split decision over Julian Marquez in July 2018.

But after a layoff of nearly another year, his struggles began. Di Chirico dropped three straight decisions to Kevin Holland, Makhmud Muradov and Zak Cummings.

With his UFC career potentially in jeopardy, he pulled off a stunner when he knocked out Joaquin Buckley with a bonus-winning head kick in January 2021 in Abu Dhabi – just a few months after Buckley had himself gone viral with a spinning back kick win.

That, however, will stand as Di Chirico’s final win for now. In August 2021, he was knocked out in just 17 seconds by Abdul Razak Alhassan, and after a yearlong layoff he had his knockout loss to Kopylov in Paris.