10-Fight UFC Featherweight Bill Algeo Announces Retirement

UFC featherweight Bill Algeo says his last chapter as an active fighter has been written.

Algeo, 35, announced his retirement from competition on social media this week, stepping away from a career that saw him attain 18 wins and make 10 UFC appearances in total.

“Decided to hang em up for realz this time,” Algoe wrote in an Instagram post. “This game has been good to me and helped me develop and become a better person.”

After joking that he would only come out of retirement to face Dr. Anthony Fauci, an 84-year-old who was a director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades, Algeo said that he’ll be dedicating his time to coaching up-and-coming talents at his Pennsylvania-based gym Algeo MMA & Kickboxing.

Algeo turned pro in 2012, taking fights around the Pennsylvania MMA scene. CFFC became an early home for him, facing fellow rising names like Shane Burgos and Jared Gordon as he cut his teeth in the sport.

While he made seven appearances for CFFC—briefly holding their title in 2016—it was a year-long title reign in New Jersey-based Ring of Combat that earned Algeo a spot on the 2019 season of “Dana White’s Contender Series.”

Algeo lost in his “Contender Series” fight to future PFL champ Brendan Loughnane but found himself on the UFC roster a year later in a short-notice position, filling in for Ryan Hall against former title challenger Ricardo Lamas.

Algeo was unsuccessful in what ended up being the retirement fight for Lamas, although as an underdog he put up enough of a battle to win a “Fight of the Night” bonus. Algeo would largely be successful over the next few years, winning five of his next seven UFC appearances, spoiling the UFC debut of Joanderson Brito and beating promotional vet Alexander Hernandez along the way.

Algeo is stepping away after the roughest year of his career thus far, suffering finish losses against Kyle Nelson and Choi Doo-ho in 2024. He had not only never been finished in his career prior to then, but had also yet to have faced back-to-back defeats.