"Last woman standing" - Shayna Baszler lauds fellow 'The Ultimate Fighter 18' contestant Roxanne Modafferi ahead of her MMA swansong at UFC 271

Shayna Baszler has paid tribute to fellow TUF 18 competitor Roxanne Modafferi ahead of her final mixed martial arts fight.

This weekend, Modafferi - who first debuted all the way back in 2003 - will make her final walk to the cage when she takes on Casey O'Neill at UFC 271. Her current record of 25-19 only tells a portion of her incredible story and at the age of 39, it's admirable that she's still fighting at such a high level.

In a quick tweet, Baszler saluted Modafferi as she prepares to ride off into the sunset.

"Last woman standing. Wow. @Roxyfighter is an icon."

Baszler hasn't been in the MMA sphere for a while as her last fight took place in February 2017. She did, however, compete on the same TUF season as Modafferi, with both fighters going out at the quarter-final stage. They also collided at MARS: BodogFight in October 2006, with Baszler winning via submission.

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What happened to Shayna Baszler?

After falling short in the UFC, Shayna Baszler decided a career transition was needed - which is what led her down the path of professional wrestling.

In the same vein as Ronda Rousey, 'The Queen of Spades' picked up the art incredibly quickly and even managed to capture the NXT women's championship. Now, she's a regular feature on WWE programming and even holds the distinction of being a former tag team champion alongside Nia Jax.

Many expected her to vault straight into title contention upon arriving on the main roster, and in many ways she did. Ultimately, she fell short at the hands of Becky Lynch at WrestleMania.

The 41-year-old is unlikely to return to mixed martial arts. Following Rousey's return to WWE, there's a layer of expectation regarding what the company could do with those two going forward.