In a statement posted on Instagram on Thursday, de Randamie (10-5) signaled her retirement from MMA. The inaugural UFC women’s featherweight queen stated that she hoped to take one more fight before calling it quits, but the schedule did not work out this year and she has decided to move on. The 40-year-old has competed once since 2020—including a lengthy layoff to give birth to a son—where she came up short to likely future title challenger Norma Dumont.
“Hey guys,” de Randamie wrote in a caption to her video statement. “With so many mixed feelings I’m sharing this message with you guys. I definitely didn’t plan or envisioned/dreamed it this way, but hey it is what it is sometimes. I begged the UFC for one more fight. But it had to be this year. I promised myself that I would retire from fighting December 31, 2024.”
She continued, “Unfortunately the UFC told me all cards a…