Credit:Getty/UFC
Credit:Getty/UFC
Credit:Getty/UFC
Russian welterweight Sergey
Khandozhko has elected to call it a career at 30 years old.
Advertisement
The three-time UFC competitor announced his retirement on social
media Tuesday. He last appeared at UFC Fight Night 205 on April 23,
when he defeated Dwight
Grant via second-round technical knockout.
“12 years have been a long way,” Khandozhko wrote on Instagram.
“There were some ups and downs, important victories and
heartbreaking losses. There were heavy preparations, injuries,
exhausting races of 10-15 kilograms. I’ve missed many holidays and
family feasts. I could not celebrate my birthday for 5 years in a
row. But I am happy every day of my professional career. And
thankful to God that he gave me this opportunity to be a
fighter.
“I fulfilled my childhood dream – I got into the best fighting
league in the world. Yes, of course it failed to become a champion.
Somewhere hard work, talent and discipline were lacking. But I
always moved forward and never gave up.”
Khandozhko’s victory over Grant was his first fight since November
2019. The Moscow native went 2-1 during a brief UFC stint and owns
a 27-6-1 mark as a professional overall.
“It’s time to turn over this page of life,” he wrote. “I hope that
with my fights, I managed to bring positive emotions to someone,
and if I could inspire someone else to take up sports, I would be
happy. I will always miss the fights, and I will always want to get
back in the octagon. But I decided to focus my efforts on creating,
developing sports and raising young champions. I will share my
experience with the youth so that they won’t repeat my mistakes and
they will know that anything is possible in this life.”