Felice Herrig is hanging up the gloves, for good.
On Friday, the 39-year-old UFC vet announced via her Instagram that she is officially done with combat sports.
“Man what an honor. After 20 years of competing in combat sports. Competing professionally In boxing , kickboxing , Muay Thai and MMA. I have officially decided to retire.
“I have so many fond memories of this sport. From competing on the first All female fighting reality show , Fight Girls to the first all female season of [The Ultimate Fighter]. I’ve fought in Thailand and Japan. Competed in Chuck Norris’s World Combat League. Racked up various kickboxing and Muay Thai titles. Hosted my own TV show and was a part of the first video game to feature female MMA fighters. I was lucky enough to be a part of the first set of female strawweights to ever compete in the UFC
“I’ve met so many amazing people along the way and it’s been a beautiful thing watching this sport grow so much for women. Especially since when I first started people always told me I had no future in this sport. Promotors never even wanted to put women on their fight cards because they thought it was some kind of freak show.
“This decision did not come lightly. After deciding to retire from MMA I had hopes of finishing off my career with my first true love of boxing. However, my body just keeps saying “No” as much as I love training hard and am able to get through practices, my body just doesn’t recover from it. I was constantly sick and spending any and all of my extra time just recovering for the next training session. Not really living my life. I’ve paid my dues in this sport and I don’t want to continue to be miserable from it any longer.
“Before deciding to call it quits I took a few months off of training to see how my body would react and it actually feels amazing. I have not been sick and I’m not in pain and tired every day. I have decided to listen to my body and enjoy the life I have worked so hard to get.
“I am officially retiring at Fight # 55”
Herrig is a pioneer of women’s MMA. A former Muay Thai fighter, she transitioned to MMA, where she cut her teeth in shows like Bellator and Invicta before taking part in Season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, where she was defeated by Randa Markos in the quarterfinals.
Herrig still became one of the breakout stars of that season of The Ultimate Fighter and went on to sign with UFC.
During her 10-fight, eight-year career in the promotion, Herrig amassed a record of 5-5, earning one “Performance of the Night” bonus. She retired from MMA in 2022 after losing to Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Vegas 56.
This past year, Herrig made her professional boxing debut, defeating Veronika Dmitriyeva by fourth round TKO in July, but she has not competed since.
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