UFC veteran Felice Herrig has announced her retirement from combat sports after a 20-year career in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and MMA.
Felice Herrig’s done. She’s hanging up those gloves for good.
The 39-year-old UFC veteran made the announcement on her Instagram last Friday. She’s stepping away from combat sports, and it’s official.
“Man, what an honor,” she began. She’s been in the game for 20 years, competing professionally in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and MMA. Now, she’s decided to retire.
She’s got a lot of fond memories, she says. She’s been on the first all-female fighting reality show, Fight Girls, and the first all-female season of The Ultimate Fighter. She’s fought in Thailand and Japan. She’s even competed in Chuck Norris’s World Combat League.
She’s won various kickboxing and Muay Thai titles. She’s hosted her own TV show. She was even part of the first video game to feature female MMA fighters. She was lucky enough to be a part of the first set of female strawweights to ever compete in the UFC.
She’s met amazing people along the way. She’s watched the sport grow so much for women. Especially since, when she first started, people told her she had no future in this sport. Promoters didn’t even want to put women on their fight cards because they thought it was some kind of freak show.
The decision wasn’t easy. After deciding to retire from MMA, she had hopes of finishing off her career with her first true love of boxing. But her body kept saying “No.” She loved training hard and could get through practices, but her body just didn’t recover from it.
She was constantly sick. She spent all her extra time just recovering for the next training session. She wasn’t really living her life. She’s paid her dues in this sport and she doesn’t want to continue to be miserable from it any longer.
Before deciding to call it quits, she took a few months off of training to see how her body would react. It actually feels amazing, she says. She hasn’t been sick. She’s not in pain and tired every day. She’s decided to listen to her body and enjoy the life she’s worked so hard to get.
“I am officially retiring at Fight # 55,” she announced.
Herrig is a pioneer of women’s MMA. She was a former Muay Thai fighter who transitioned to MMA. She cut her teeth in shows like Bellator and Invicta before taking part in Season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter. She was defeated by Randa Markos in the quarterfinals.
But she still became one of the breakout stars of that season of The Ultimate Fighter. She went on to sign with UFC.
During her 10-fight, eight-year career in the promotion, Herrig amassed a record of 5-5. She earned 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. She defeated Veronika Dmitriyeva by fourth round TKO in July. But she hasn’t competed since.