Bart Palaszewski, one of two to beat UFC champ Pettis, confirms retirement

Bart Palaszewski, a former IFL fighter who eventually took his talents to the WEC and UFC, has officially retired from the sport.

The 30-year-old Polish-American fighter first hinted at retirement on social media over the weekend and made it official in recent days.

It's about that time! Want to thank @VFDMarketing @ufc @teamcurranmma @SuckerPunchEnt all my fans but I'm officially hanging it up!—
Bart Palaszewski (@Bartimus7) February 21, 2014

Palaszewski most recently competed at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale, where he suffered a submission loss to Cole Miller in April 2013. Soon after the Miller loss, Palaszewski confirmed the UFC had released him. He hasn’t fought since.

During a 12-year career, the fighter competed as light as featherweight and as heavy as welterweight.

Palaszewski (36-17) posted an 8-4 mark with the IFL’s Quad City Silverbacks, a 4-3 record in the WEC, and a 1-3 mark in the UFC. However, his UFC stint also included a “Knockout of the Night” award in his UFC 137 victory over Tyson Griffin and a “Fight of the Night” bonus in his UFC on FX 5 loss to Diego Nunes.

One of Palaszewski’s biggest career highlights came in late 2009, when he earned a split-decision victory over Anthony Pettis, who went on to win WEC and UFC titles, at WEC 45. He remains one of only two fighters (Clay Guida) to score a victory over the reigning UFC lightweight champion.

The victory was part of a 5-1 run that propelled the colorful Palaszewski to a UFC contract in 2011.