At UFC 271 this weekend, "Happy Warrior" Roxanne Modafferi will play her own retirement match against Casey O'Neill.
In her nearly 20-year career, Modaferi has played against some of the top women's MMA players, and 44 professional matches have made her the second most female MMA player in history.
Modaferi began her career in 2003, and UFC 271 will be her 45th professional match. If you count her experiences in the two "Ultimate Fighter" seasons, her actual number of matches has reached 50, surpassing any female MMA player in history.
In such a long career, Modaferi has had many highlight moments, but it is undeniable that years of fighting have accumulated a lot of injuries to her body, which is also an important reason for her decision to retire before the age of 40.
"To be honest, over the years I've felt more and more clearly in training how the impact on my head is affecting me. I used to be able to take a blow to my head directly, and now I feel terrible about this kind of thing. I'm showing signs of headaches, so I know I'm going to be especially careful with myself now. ”
"I choose my own training partner in training, I bring head protection, all in order to be as safe as possible. I made a promise to myself: as soon as I felt any discomfort in my brain, I would retire immediately. Now that I'm starting to plan my life after I retire, I could have played a few more games, but I feel like it's time to leave. ”
In addition to considerations for his own health, there are other factors that led Modaferi to make the decision to retire, and that is age. The 39-year-old Modaferi believes he has passed the golden age of his career, although many players do not dare to admit it. In addition, after nearly 20 years of burning in her martial arts career, she plans to use her remaining energy for the rest of her life.
"I'm still training hard, I'm still trying to get stronger, but these young rookies keep popping up and I feel like they're overtaking me little by little. I'm not happy with how I've performed in the last few games. ”
"I met the love of my life, Chris Roman, so now I'm thinking about starting a family that has never been in my plans before. I've been single for decades, but now I'm starting to really think about family life, so that also led me to make the decision to retire. ”
Although Modaferi's career record is not very impressive, and she has even experienced a wave of 6 consecutive defeats, and has been in a state of alternating victories and losses in the final years of her career, her entire experience has undoubtedly left a deep enough impression.
Modaferi has not only competed in strikeforce, Invicta FC and UFC, but has also challenged their titles. In her nearly 20-year career, she has been ranked among the first-line women's athletes, no matter how fast the sport has grown. It can be said that the "Happy Warrior" has stood the test of time with positivity, persistence and self-confidence.
In addition, Modaferi has won many memorable matches without being favored, beating many strong opponents including Maycee Barber, Antonina Shevchenko, Barb Honchak, Tara LaRosa and DeAnna Bennett.
Looking back on her tortuous and memorable career in professional fighting, Modaferi is proud of what she has achieved, saying she has always lived in a dream.
"My goal was to get into the UFC and I never wanted to be a UFC champion, so I've accomplished my career goals. But when I got to that point and got the title challenge, I said to myself, 'That's cool, let me try it.'" ”
"But I've really achieved my life goal, which is to play in the UFC and I've played 11 games here, which is remarkable. It's a pleasure to think about it all, and even though I didn't win all of these games, I really did my best. (UFC China Dana)
Roxanne Modaferi vs Kathy O'Neal
Past interviews
Directed by Li Ke
Kung Fu star Li Bingyuan Jackie Chan female disciple Xu Dongmei