UFC middleweight Charles "Chainsaw" McCarthy announced today, April 24, that he is permanently retiring from the sport of MMA. He made the announcement via an email that he sent to various web sites. In the email he wrote:

"I would like to announce my formal retirement from mixed martial arts competition. I have achieved many of the goals I set out to accomplish in this sport and found others just out of reach. It is now time for me to lay down my gloves and rededicate my attention towards my business, my fighters, my family and my team."

McCarthy leaves the sport with a record of 10 wins and 5 losses with no draws. He finished all ten of his wins via submission. His first pro fight was back in July of 2003 at Absolute Fighting Championships 4 which is where he spent most of his career. He had three fights in the UFC but unfortunately was only victorious once against Gideon Ray at "The Ultimate Fighter 4" Finale.

His very last fight was last Saturday at UFC 83 in Montreal where he took on Michael Bisping. It had been 17 months since he had last competed. Charles suffered an arm injury during the first round and could not come out for round two. The victory was ruled a TKO and Bisping took home the W.

27 year old McCarthy has a wife, Elisa and a son named Zachary. He attributes a lot of his success to his fellow members at American Top Team.

"Thank you to all who have supported mixed martial arts. You have helped me live out a childhood dream of being a professional athlete. I am proud to say that in some small way I helped to grow our great sport and entertain fans across the world."