After the horn sounded to end the third and final round of Tyson Pedro’s bout against Vitor Petrino, the Australian light heavyweight walked back to his corner and held out his gloves for his dad, John, to cut the tape off of.
Over the years, a fighter wanting to remove their gloves immediately after a fight has become a precursor to a retirement speech.
That was the case for Pedro. After being on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Petrino on Sunday, the City Kickboxing fighter announced his decision to call time on his UFC career and laid his gloves down on the octagon canvas.
“I didn’t want to take away from his win,” Pedro said when given the opportunity to announce his decision after the fight. “Obviously I had a different plan, so it wasn’t the best performance.
“Thank you to all the fans, thank you very much to the UFC for everything they’ve done on this journey, and especially thanks to my team and anyone who has helped me get to this stage in 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. My dreams have just changed at this point, so that’s it for me with the UFC.
