Fan favorite UFC fighter appears to retire after suffering third consecutive stoppage defeat at UFC Vegas 97

UFC flyweight Matt Schnell left his gloves in the octagon after suffering a third straight stoppage defeat last night.

Arriving in the UFC on the back of The Ultimate Fighter, Schnell has been a part of the furniture at 125lb since 2016. He has shared the octagon with the likes of Steve Erceg, Brandon Royval and even current champion Alexandre Pantoja.

But lately his fortunes have taken a downturn, losing all of his last three fights by either knockout or submission. And following his defeat to Cody Durden at the UFC Apex last night, he appeared to indicate he was retiring by leaving his gloves in the octagon.

Who is Dana White? All you need to know about the CEO and President of the UFCMatt Schnell ‘retires’ after submission defeat to Cody DurdenJust a week prior to Saturday, Matt Schnell was set to fight Alessandro Costa at the Apex in a flyweight outing as he looked to land his first win in two years. But when Costa was forced out with injury, Cody Durden stepped in on four days’ notice to save the day.

Durden posed a different kind of challenge, but it appeared that Schnell was finding his way towards answering the questions. He buzzed and hurt his opponent in the exchanges early, and appeared to be heading in the right direction after the first, which he had won on one scorecard.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesHowever, he shot in for a takedown and was quickly submitted with a rare ‘Ninja choke’ move. After the official result, he left down his gloves, seemingly signifying his retirement from the sport after eight years in the UFC and 12 years as a professional.

He has not confirmed the meaning of his gesture with a statement as yet. But it is generally understood in fighting that leaving your gloves in the cage signals retirement.

Cody Durden given $50,000 bonus for short-notice winFor Cody Durden, the fight came as a surprise after he made a social media callout upon hearing the news of Costa’s pullout. He admits he had been drinking as recently as last Sunday, before flying to Las Vegas on four days’ notice to make weight and fight.

Due to the short notice, the fight was moved up to 135lb, which both men made before competing on Saturday. They had previously trained together at Fortis MMA, but Durden insists that he is unfazed by fighting teammates or friends as he insists it is ‘just business’.

He was rewarded handsomely for his performance after the fact, being given a further $50,000 on top of his fight purse and win money. Since that, he has pleaded with boss Dana White to increase the bonus to $100,000, to no avail.

Cody Durden opens up about tumultuous week leading up to Matt Schnell fightDurden recently signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC, and was keen to get to work immediately when he heard that Schnell needed an opponent. Having lost his last two fights, he was eager to get back in the win column, and needed just a four-day training camp to get it done.

“I didn’t have much preparation,” he admitted during his post-fight press conference. “Had a few drinks on Sunday, probably more than I should have, I laid in bed all day Monday and went back to the gym and sparred five rounds on Tuesday.

“I shoot my shot on Twitter and I don’t know what the f*** I’m doing here but I’m here. Four days’ notice, I bring my wife, me and my wife just fly out here within four or five hours of accepting the fight but I’m here to stay.

“I’m game, if I can do that on four days’ notice I can do a lot more when I put my full time and effort into being the best.”

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