Claudia Gadelha has announced her retirement from MMA

No. 7 ranked UFC strawweight, Claudia Gadelha, has announced her retirement from the sport, according to Damon Martin who confirmed the news with UFC officials on Friday.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise to fans as she’s currently in the top 10 of the UFC’s strawweight division and a fan favorite.

She’s coming off a 2020 loss to Yan Xiaonan but hasn’t fought since.

She made her MMA debut for Force Fighting Championship 1 on June 5, 2008 where she defeated Elaine Leite via an 18 second armbar. She’d go on to win 12 in a row, including her July 13, 2013 UFC debut.

Gadelha once fought for the UFC’s strawweight title but lost the bout via a Fight of the Night decision to Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

She recently posted a photo on social media with some big name UFC fighters including champion Rose Namajunas, former champion Holly Holm and another fan favorite, Michelle Waterson.

“What a amazing experience listening to this beautiful life stories,” she wrote. “Lucky will be the ones listening and learning from this conversation!! Thank you girls for sharing your knowledge with the world. I just became a bigger fan of each one of you!!”

At press time Gadelha has not commented on the retirement on social media.