After years of fighting against some of the strawweight division’s top names, Marina Rodriguez has decided to call it quits.
Rodriguez announced her retirement on Saturday night following a second-round ground and pound stoppage loss to Gillian Robertson at UFC’s “Fight Night” card in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
“This is my last fight because it’s time. My heart has told me ‘Marina, it’s time to do something new,’” Rodriguez said in her post-fight interview.
Combat sports found Rodriguez just over a decade ago, when the Brazilian fighter enrolled in Muay Thai courses to stay active. It didn’t take long for her training to turn into a career: By 2015, she won her MMA pro debut, stopping her opponent after one round.
After attaining an impressive undefeated record of nine wins in her home country, Rodriguez was picked to compete on a one-off Brazilian season of “Dana White’s Contender Series.” She passed her test on the show with flying colors, earning a UFC contract after finishing Maria Oliveira in a little over three minutes.
Rodriguez quickly shot up the strawweight rankings after joining the promotion, losing just once through her first nine appearances. By early 2022, she had a record which put her up to third place in the strawweight rankings, making her likely just one or two wins away from a title opportunity. She had a total of six wins by that point, including five-round performances over Mackenzie Dern and Michelle Waterson-Gomez.
But Rodriguez has struggled in recent years, slipping in the rankings as she fights one contender after another. She has lost five of her past six fights since late 2022, dropping bouts to names like former champ Jessica Andrade, recent title challenger Amanda Lemos, and current first-ranked 115-pound fighter, Virna Jandiroba.
Her latest fight saw her likely slide out of the strawweight division’s top 10 after losing to 12th-place Robertson.
“I want to say thank you so much MMA fans,” Rodriguez said in her post-fight interview. “You are amazing. Thank [you] UFC for all the support, thank you, boss Dana White. Signing on the ‘Contender Series’ was the best day of my life.”
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