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UFC veteran Felice Herrig hung up her gloves for good after a second-round submission loss against Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Vegas 56 prelims. This marked 'Lil Bulldog's' fourth consecutive loss in the promotion.
Herrig bid adieu to the sport after proving to herself that she could overcome two ACL surgeries and go on to compete at the highest level. The 38-year-old women's strawweight fighter said in her post-fight octagon interview:
"It's been in an honor being in the UFC for eight years and fighting for twenty. The biggest thing for me was, you know, I had two ACL surgeries and I really wanted to not go out like that. I wanted to prove to myself that I can overcome two knee surgeries and come back and still fight at the highest level."
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While Herrig had a great training camp, she apparently knew it would be her last fight if she didn't find her rhythm inside the octagon. 'Lil Bulldog' was upset about leaving her beloved sport after twenty years but accepted that it was perhaps time for another chapter of her life. The 38-year-old further said:
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"And you know, I felt better than ever in training, my mind felt great and so much positive energy and great people around me, great coaches. But I knew that if I wasn't feeling it in the cage, that it was just gonna be my last fight. And not in a bad way, you know, I just feel like there's something else for me. Like, it's time to close this chapter in my life. Which is really sad because I've committed the past twenty years to it. But it's just time to move on to something else."
Watch Felice Herrig's post-fight octagon interview below:
Felice Herrig was out of competition for about two years following two ACL surgeries
Felice Herrig tore her ACL back in 2019 when she was 5-3 in the UFC. However, 'Lil Bulldog' continued to face issues in her training camp when she was finally cleared to fight Virna Jandiroba at UFC 252 in October 2020.
Herrig couldn't prepare for Jandiroba's dangerous ground game and even lied about it leading up to the bout. The TUF 20 alum would go on to suffer a first-round submission loss to 'Carcara'.
Following her loss to Jandiroba, Herrig decided to go under the knife a second time and set things right. 'Lil Bulldog' has been out of competition since, until her recent loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Vegas 56.
