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Former UFC title challenger Bethe Correia retires from MMA

Bethe Correia’s professional MMA career has officially come to an end.

The long-time UFC women’s bantamweight hung up the gloves following her unanimous decision loss to Karol Rosa on the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 193 in Las Vegas. Correia (11-6-1 MMA, 5-6-1 UFC) lost 30-27, 30-27, and 30-26 on the judges’ scorecards.

She announced in the lead-up to the fight that she planned on competing one last time and retire.

“(It’s a) Very emotional moment for me,” Correia said in her post-fight interview. “It’s been very emotional for me, a lot of deja vu moments for me. I can only thank the UFC for all the opportunities they gave me.”

Correia most notably fought for the women’s 135-pound belt back in 2015 when she challenged then-champion Ronda Rousey in the pay-per-view headliner of UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She lost via first-round knockout, suffering her first professional defeat.

The Brazilian competed professionally for almost a decade, as she made her debut in 2012. She joined the UFC in 2013 where she fought for almost eight years. Correia leaves the sport with notable wins over Sijara Eubanks, Jessica Eye, and Shayna Baszler. She headlined two UFC events during her tenure with the promotion.

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