UFC featherweight fighter Jack Shore has announced his retirement from professional mixed martial arts.
The 29-year-old from Wales wrote on his Instagram page Wednesday that after spending some time with family and friends following a November loss to Youssef Zalal at UFC Edmonton he has made the decision to hang up his gloves.
“After fighting out my contract and taking some time to think about what’s next it’s clear to me that my time with professional fighting is done,” Shore wrote .
Shore ends his 20-fight pro career with a 17-3 record but losing three of his past four fights by stoppage and going 0-2 this year. He was submitted by Zalal in the second round of their 145-pound matchup roughly six weeks ago and began his 2024 campaign with an unusual technical knockout loss to Joanderson Brito in May at UFC 301 due to a cut on Shore’s leg that opened because of kicks.
Prior to his UFC debut in 2019, Shore earned an 11-0 record and won a Cage Warriors bantamweight championship before signing with the UFC.
Shore began his UFC career 5-0 but following a 2022 submission loss to Ricky Simon he decided to move up to the featherweight division where he ended up going 1-2 over the past two years against bigger competition.
“I can truly say for every single fight I gave the training and the fights my all, never said no, never asked questions just kept my head down, stayed true to myself and achieved more than I ever thought possible,” Shore added. “For the entirety of my 20s fighting and training was my life and sole focus, however the last few weeks/months have showed this is no longer the case. And I always promised myself when I was mentality checked out I would retire from the sport rather than the sport retire me.
“(Injuries) have caught up with me after a lifetime in the sport. I’m leaving with my mental in check, good health, financially stable and am fully ready to move onto the future.”
Shore also explained he had the chance to re-sign with the UFC this year but declined and thanked the organization for allowing him to live out his childhood dream.
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