Claudia Gadelha retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) after losing to Yan Xiaonan. She cited personal reasons, time away from her family, and post-concussion syndrome as the primary reasons for her departure from the sport.
Since her retirement, Gadelha has been busy with a number of pursuits, some pertaining to MMA and others not. Gadelha has been working with the UFC on fighter development, focusing specifically on her native Brazil.
Her main goal is to assist young talent in the country and eventually bring a UFC Performance Institute to Brazil.
Watch as Gadelha talks about her new role with the UFC (8:48):
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Outside the MMA scene, Gadelha has also embraced content creation. She has taken to OnlyFans whilst also creating her own subscription-based website, where she shares content on her lifestyle. She has also been very active on social media in general.
Claudia Gadelha retired from MMA in 2021 citing post-concussion syndrome
Before her retirement, Claudia Gadelha was an accomplished fighter with a record of 18-5. She once challenged longtime champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk after coaching against her on season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).
Speaking on her retirement during a live session on social media, she said:
"I don't want anyone to think I'm sad, because I'm very happy with what's going on in my life right now. In November, after the fight, I had a really bad concussion and I had post-concussion syndrome, which happens over a long period of time. It was really frustrating because my headaches were like a knife stabbing the back of my head, I was very nauseous, I was throwing up and I was feeling very, very bad. Couldn't go for a walk, couldn't train, it was very frustrating." (2:20)
Watch Claudia Gadelha explain the reasons for her retirement here:
This also happened during the pandemic, meaning Gadelha couldn't head back to her native Brazil, nor could her family get to her.
Dealing with the ill-effects of her concussions alone fueled her decision to retire. She was in two minds originally, but ultimately decided to hang up the gloves to pursue "many other opportunities in life."