At just 31 years of age, Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight
Felicia
Spencer has decided to hang up her gloves.
Speaking to
FightBananas on Thursday, Spencer told the outlet that she
informed the UFC that she was retiring. This news comes less than a
month removed from her victory over Leah Letson
at UFC Fight Night 197, where she
finished her opponent in the third round. Spencer turned 31 on
Monday.
“I’ve made the decision to be done with my fighting career, if you
want to call it a career, I call it more of an opportunity and I’m
done pursuing the opportunity,” Spencer explained in the interview.
“I’m really happy with where I left off and everything I’ve done.
For me and for my personal decisions and everything, it’s time for
me to be done, and part of the big reason just to inform everyone
there’s not anything that happened to me, it’s just for me and my
family, mental health is always been a big, important factor, and I
always envisioned not being a fighter that stuck around longer than
they should. Even though I feel like I’m the best I’ve ever been, I
feel like it’s time for me to be done. I’m not interested in having
any more wars, I’m happy with where I’ve left my career. So, that’s
it for me, guys.”
Spencer, born in Canada but fighting out of Florida, made her
professional debut in the ranks of Invicta Fighting Championships. Spending half
of her 12-fight career under the Invicta banner, Spencer never
lost, capturing the featherweight strap over Pam
Sorenson at Invicta FC 32 in 2018 to earn a place on the UFC
roster.
From there, the career of “Feenom” went through turbulence as a
result of being matched against some of the most feared women in
the sport, namely Cristiane
Justino and Amanda
Nunes. Spencer debuted inside the Octagon by tapping fellow
ex-Invicta champ Megan
Anderson, and this earned her a matchup against “Cris Cyborg”
at UFC 240. Spencer fought valiantly but fell short to the
Brazilian juggernaut by decision. Bouncing back by knocking
Zarah Fairn dos Santos out in 2020, that victory leapfrogged
her to a title shot against Nunes.
Spencer never suffered a stoppage loss in her pro career, losing
decisions to Justino, Nunes and later, Norma
Dumont. She did snap the only losing streak of her career in
November by prevailing over Letson. As a pro, Spencer maintained a
high finish rate of 77.8%, while having faced every other woman to
hold the Invicta featherweight belt.
Spencer’s whole statement, courtesy of
FightBananas, reads as follows:
”I have decided to stop pursuing this opportunity and have no
intention to continue fighting. I felt as good as I’ve ever been in
my last fight, and know I could have more great performances, but
after 18 fights, including a few ‘wars,’ I know in my heart for my
future mental health that I shouldn’t be in more of those wars. In
the fight game that isn’t guaranteed, and I’ve shown myself that I
won’t give up in the cage, so I need to protect myself by just not
stepping in there. I’m thinking about myself and family 25 years
from now. Mental health is an important consideration in my
family.”