End of an era.
Back in 2017, Claudia Gadelha was in some shape ahead of what should be another crack at the straw-weight title. The Brazilian was hoping to get a third shot at champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk by finishing her Polish compatriot Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 212.
The highly anticipated fight was just below the UFC featherweight title unification bout between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway and took place in Rio de Janeiro this July. Gadelha was coming off a win over Courtney Casey and knew a dominant performance over the tough Pole would put her right back in the title picture.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CW_qoCEvpWJ/
Five weeks out for the co-main event bout, Gadelha looked to be in the shape of her life.
Incredibly, by Gadelha’s reckoning, she still needed to shed 20 more pounds before she can make straw-weight of 115lbs.
135lb, 5 weeks out. 61kg 5 semanas para o UFC 212.#teamclaudia #ufc212 pic.twitter.com/sx0LHVY9lo
— Claudia Gadelha (@ClaudiaGadelha_) April 28, 2017
End of the road for Claudia Gadelha
She went on to win that fight but lost her next bout, against Jessica Andrade in what was a title eliminator.
The 33-year-old bounced back with three wins in her next four fights [moving to 18-4] but lost a unanimous decision to Yan Xiaonan in November 2020. Now, that looks to have been her last fight.
Claudia Gadelha has notified the UFC that she’s retired from active competition, UFC officials confirmed to me today with additional sources confirmed by @guicruzzz
Full story coming to @MMAFighting
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) December 17, 2021
Gadelha has been in the professional game since 2008, so may well have opted to lay down her gloves after 12 active years in MMA.
