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MMA

29th Jan 2017

Neil Seery announces that he’s out of retirement fight following death in his family

"Family comes first"

Darragh Murphy

Neil Seery has announced that he will no longer be fighting at UFC 208.

The veteran Irish fighter was slated to hang up his gloves after his flyweight meeting with Ian McCall in two weeks time.

But due to the untimely passing of his mother-in-law, Seery won’t be competing on the Brooklyn card according to an announcement on his Facebook page on Sunday evening.

“I pulled out of my fight in 2 weeks due to losing my mother in law today sorry to everyone who bought tickets but family comes first,” Seery said.

This is the second time in three months that ‘2 Tap’ has seen his retirement fight forced off due to circumstances beyond his control as his original meeting with McCall, scheduled for UFC Belfast in November, was cancelled after Seery’s opponent was unable to compete when he fell ill during the weight cutting process.

Seery was adamant that he was not going to bow out of the sport he loved in that style and was thrilled to see the bout rescheduled for the upcoming New York pay-per-view but, unfortunately, it would seem like he will play no part on the card.

Hopefully we will get the chance to see the 37-year-old take to the Octagon one last time before he calls it a day as it’s the least Seery deserves after a stellar career in which he acted as a pioneer for Irish mixed martial arts.

The former Cage Warriors flyweight champion made his UFC debut in 2014 and compiled a record 3-3 under the promotional banner, with the highlight of his time in the Octagon coming in Dublin when he submitted Jon delos Reyes in the second round.

UFC 208 takes place on February 11 and will be headlined by a fight for the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title when Holly Holm meets Germaine de Randamie.