After plenty of speculation in recent months, Chad Mendes is officially calling it a career.
The former UFC featherweight title challenger confirmed his decision to ESPN.com on Tuesday. Rumors of Mendes’ retirement first began to circulate following his loss to Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 232 this past December.
"The main reason I didn't say something sooner was there were some loose ends I wanted to tie up," Mendes told ESPN. "I wanted to step away for a little bit and let everything settle, and just make sure my feelings didn't change, as I was coming right out of a training camp and a fight.