End of an era? Pederneiras Set To Retire As Head Coach

Mixed martial arts is about to lose one of the best head coaches and corner-men it has ever seen in Andre Pederneiras. With almost one thousand fights as a corner man under his belt, the Nova Uniao is ready to spend less time in the spotlight and more time behind the scenes.

“I will complete 1000 fights as a coach this year, so I thought that this is a good number to go and say ‘it’s good, I’ve done my job as a cornerman and I want to stay at backstage now’,” Pederneiras told Portal Do Vale Tudo. “I will become a consultant for Nova Uniao, that’s my goal today, and continue to manage the fighters.

Pederneiras is looking to spend more time with family and friends by cutting his travel down, but he will still remain with the gym to help students learn. While he will be stepping down as head coach, he will still play a role in the fighters’ camps. “I’m not saying I will ever go (to a fight) again, but this will reduce my travels to almost zero. There are so many fighters and I can’t just go to one’s fights and deny to others, which is happening today and makes me upset.”

Set to retire at the end of 2015, Pederneiras still has two important fights coming up before he can stay home with his wife and kids. Jose Aldo will be defending his UFC Featherweight Championship against Conor McGregor at UFC 189 and Renan Barao will be challenging TJ Dillashaw for the bantamweight title.

How will Pederneiras’ departure change how Nova Uniao works? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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