It appears as if the ‘Batman’ Kurt Pellegrino (16-6) is looking to take some time off from the sport of mixed martial arts. The lightweight made the announcement on his website KurtPellegrino.com, stating that he had not renewed his contract with the UFC, and would be taking some time off to spend with family to help “refresh his mind.”
“I am writing to let everyone know where I stand as far my fighting career goes. At this time I am choosing to take some time off and step away from the sport as a fighter. Over my most recent fights I have come to the realization that at this point I no longer can, nor want to make fighting my first priority. Never in my career have I lost two fights in a row and my last fight’s decision in particular was especially hard for me to swallow to be honest. Even last year when i was on a 4 fight win streak I still was questioning myself. This has made me reconsider what my next step will be competitively. I have spoken at length with Joe Silva about my decision and have decided not to renew my contract with the UFC.”
Pellegrino is 7-5 in the UFC and has lost his last two fights, dropping a split decision to Gleison Tibau at UFC 128, and to George Sotiropoulos by unanimous decision at UFC 116.
Strikeforce announcer Maura Ranallo spoke to Pellegrino about his reasons for not re-signing with the UFC and his motivation for taking some time off from the sport. Updates for the interview were provided by @thefightshow via Twitter.
(I’ve highlighted some of the more interesting quotes)
– KP @kurtpellegrino tells @mauroranallo that he isn’t as hungry to compete anymore
– KP @kurtpellegrino tells @mauroranallo that he tore his miniscus before the Sotiropoulos fight with no rehab
– KP @kurtpellegrino tells @mauroranallo that he had 3 surgeries in 4 months leading up to the Tibau fight
– KP @kurtpellegrino tells @mauroranallo that he feared he would never walk again after tearing up his knee
– KP @kurtpellegrino tells @mauroranallo that if we don’t see him fight by 2012, we won’t see him fight in MMA again
– KP @kurtpellegrino tells @mauroranallo that he wants to get a pro boxing fight under his belt