UFC
Following UFC Fight Night 34 loss, Quinn Mulhern announces retirement from MMA
Jan 4, 2014 - 9:30:58 PM Following UFC Fight Night 34 loss, Quinn Mulhern announces retirement from MMA

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Hours after a decision loss to Katsunori Kikuno at UFC Fight Night 34 in Singapore, Quinn Mulhern has retired from MMA.

The 29-year-old announced the decision with a post on Facebook, which read:

"Hey guys. First, just let me express how grateful I am for the love and support of a whole community of people. Especially those folks who have been with me from the beginning of my MMA career. I love you all, thank you.

The dust hasn't settled exactly so I wouldn't normally do this now...but it feels like it's the right time: I am retiring from MMA.

This camp was as perfect as they come. Everything fell into place, mentally, physically...my weight cut was a success. I got to a place of mental focus where I have never been before. But when I got in the cage I just didn't have it. It wasn't nerves, I didn't freeze...I just didn't have the physical gifts or skill [to] win. Bottom line is that I could put in years of continued work but I won't be competitive at this level. Perhaps I'd get quite a bit better, but I think [I'd] rather spend that time on something new. I feel this in my bones.

So this is not a tantrum of self-pity. In fact, I feel very clear and good about this decision. I'm so grateful to have done what I've done. I've gotten to travel all over the world and to fight professionally over twenty times. But this is it.

Now what to do next is the question. I'll leave that alone for a while. But I'm hopeful and excited for the next step.

The phrase that was the theme of my training camp was "All in due time." I think that phrase is quite fitting, even now.

Love.

Quinn"


Mulhern leaves the sport with an 18-4 record, a run which included a three fight winning streak in Strikeforce before losing consecutive fights in the UFC in the last ten months.

Penick's Analysis: Mulhern certainly didn't have a good performance in Singapore, but I admire the thought that led him to this decision. It's a slight knee-jerk reaction, but he clearly felt he wasn't on the level he needed to be, and with honest self reflection didn't think it was a level he could necessarily reach at this stage. Not everyone can. He had an opportunity many don't get in the sport, and it's not guaranteed he'd have been kept on after two straight losses anyway, so for him this is the call he feels he needed to make.