Germaine de Randamie, first-ever UFC women's featherweight champ, retires from MMA at 40

“This is not how I imagined it, envisioned it and dreamed about it. Absolutely not. But sometimes in life, you've got to roll with the punches, like they say, right? The last couple of weeks I’ve been in close contact with the UFC, since I’ve been cleared by the doctor, and I literally begged them for a fight this year. I begged them, give me one more fight this year. But unfortunately, the UFC told me they had no more spots left on the cards. Every card was fully booked for this year, which in a way of course disappointed me, because like I said, I’ve not envisioned it this way and this is not the way I wanted to do it. And it hurts, but it is what it is, they say, right? So that’s why I’m shooting you this message.

After 25 years, I’m going to lay my gloves down. This is it. No more fighting. I wish I had one more fight. One more fight. I wanted to make that work so bad one more time, but like I said, it’s not going to happen. So I decided it’s time to lay my gloves down. I’m retiring from fighting. It’s been 25 years of an amazing rollercoaster with the highests of the highs and the lowests of the lows. Things I couldn’t imagine having. The people I met, the stories I can tell. I'm forever grateful for all that I was able to do and I was able to accomplish. I retire with an amazing record and there's too many people to thank.

There's so much more I wish I could say, and like I said, I wish I could've done this in the cage and walk away leaving my gloves over there, but it's not what it is. I am blessed that I was able to do what I did. And I’ll still continue to train and be a part of some people’s amazing journey, but actively I’m retiring from MMA today. I want to thank you all; also the UFC, thank you all. It's been an amazing ride. And don't forget, I always say — die with memories, not dreams. 'The Iron Lady' has finally left the building."