Former UFC bantamweight Luke Sanders announces retirement from MMA
Just months after parting ways with the UFC, Luke Sanders has announced his retirement from MMA.
The former RFA bantamweight champion took to Instagram on Wednesday to announce the news.
“Cool Hand! Out! I’m officially retired after 8 ufc frights two performance of the night awards multiple records held in my division. And whipping everybody’s ass that was put in front of me. It’s been a great ride…thank you to all my coaches, friends, Family, and fans All this was for y’all. Many blessing, All the love guys”
Sanders (13-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC) leaves the sport on a two-fight losing skid. Most recently, he dropped a unanimous decision to Felipe Colares at UFC on ESPN 23 in May. He fought out the final fight on his UFC contract against Colares and was removed from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool following the loss.
The 35-year-old Arizona-based fighter holds notable UFC wins over Maximo Blanco and former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao, earning a “Performance of the Night” bonus in both bouts.
In eight UFC fights, Sanders averaged the fifth shortest fight time in the division’s history, the sixth highest significant strike accuracy, as well as the least bottom position time.