Ex-UFC champion Germaine de Randamie announces retirement from MMA

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Former UFC featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie has "left the building" and retired from mixed martial arts, she announced Thursday.

The 40-year-old veteran, who returned to the cage in April of 2024 after recently giving birth to a son, revealed she has decided to walk away from the sport without a farewell bout. The Dutch striker was offered a fight with Jacqueline Cavalcanti on Jan. 11, but said, "I promised myself I would retire from fighting December 31st, 2024."

"This is not how I imagined it, envisioned it and dreamed about it. Absolutely not," de Randamie said on a video posted on social media. "But sometimes in life, you 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. This is not the way I wanted to do it, and it hurts, but it is what it is. So that's why I'm shooting you this message. After 25 years, I'm gonna lay my gloves down. This is it. No more fighting."

De Randamie leaves MMA with a record of 10-5 with seven of those wins under the UFC banner, including a featherweight title win over Holly Holm and victories against future MMA champions in Julianna Peña, Raquel Pennington and Larissa Pacheco. "The Iron Lady" lost a decision to Norma Dumont in her final UFC fight.

"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," de Randamie said. "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 highs of the highs and the lows of the lows. Things I couldn't imagine having. 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 to 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."

Check de Randamie's full retirement speech below.