It’s the end of the road in the UFC and professional mixed martial arts for one lightweight fighter.
After Julia Avila announced her retirement in the cage at this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night event, another member of the roster has followed suit this week.
In an Instagram post, 155-pound vet Joe Solecki cut his career short at the age of 31. The decision comes off the back of three straight defeats for the New Jersey native, who was most recently outpointed by Nurullo Aliev at the very first UFC event of 2025.
During a lengthy caption, Solecki revealed his plans to remain an active part of the sport through his coaching work.
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Today, after chasing this dream for 10 years, I am officially retiring from the sport of MMA.
I started this endeavor as a kid with a dream of making it to the UFC. It then grew into so many more goals and dreams, some of which I achieved and others where I fell short. In a way, despite falling short at times (especially this past year), I ‘lived my movie’. Competing at the highest level in the UFC and grinding it out on the regional circuit to make it to the top have taught me more life lessons and things about myself, hard work, and determination than I ever could’ve imagined. This avenue in life has helped me grow in so many ways as a man, athlete, husband, father, and most of all has helped me grow and develop deeper in my faith and relationship with God. I have made lifelong relationships that I’ll cherish forever, have experienced the amazing feeling of victory, the adversity of defeat and the joy of overcoming that adversity. I have been able to go places and experience things I never even dreamed of because of this sport, all memories that I’ll also cherish.
I won’t be far away from the sport, as I look forward to being on the mats everyday both training still and coaching the next generation of martial artists at Gym-O. I hope to play a small part in helping others experience these same things I mentioned above in their own lives. And you will certainly be seeing me competing in grappling soon, as competition will always be a part of me.
Thank you so much to my incredible wife, who has been with me every step of the way from the first time I laced up a pair of gloves and to my kids who along the way became my new ‘why’. Thank you so much to my coaches, teammates, and everyone who supported me so much. I will be thanking all of these people in a separate post that they very much deserve. Above all, praise goes to Jesus Christ, for the grace that showed me that my worth wasn’t determined by a status or outcome, but by Him. Thank you everyone for all of your support throughout the years on this ride. It’s been nothing short of incredible.
Solecki earned his contract on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2019, impressing the UFC CEO with a first-round submission win.
While he quickly made a statement with three consecutive victories inside the Octagon to move to 11-2 as a pro, the 31-year-old went 2-4 across his remaining six outings, culminating in an early retirement.
