Women’s MMA will lose a legend this October when former No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Megumi Fujii hangs up her gloves after one final fight in October under the Vale Tudo Japan banner.
Fujii has been recognized as one of the best women’s fighters for several years. She held an undefeated record for most of her career and faced the top competition in Japan before she tried her hand in Bellator back in 2010.
The Japanese star has wins over several top names including current Invicta champion Carla Esparza, but she will still put a bow on her career this October. There’s at least one current women’s star who hopes to travel to Japan and land the retirement fight with Fujii.
Felice Herrig, who has won her last four bouts in a row, including two victories in Bellator, is putting her name in the hat as the person to draw the final fight with Fujii in October.
While her hope is to land the fight, Herrig isn’t trying to be disrespectful towards Fujii—it’s exactly the opposite.
Herrig knows that Fujii is a legend, and the best way to honor that is to give her the best fight possible before she calls it a career.
“It would truly be an honor to compete against Megumi in her final fight,” Herrig told Bleacher Report. “She is a true pioneer for WMMA and I would like to be able to look back on my career and say I had the opportunity to face her.”
Herrig is one of the top rising prospects in the women’s division at 115 pounds, who also carries solid name value in the sport.
It’s unknown at this time who the candidates are to face Fujii in her final fight, but it’s well known that many promotions in Japan don’t settle on a fight until just weeks before it’s set to actually take place.
To make sure she’s in fighting shape in case she gets the call, Herrig is staying busy in the mean time.
She will return to her striking roots this weekend in a Muay Thai fight in Chicago when she takes on Amanda LaVoy in a special attraction bout.
Herrig hopes that her next fight will be against Fujii in Japan this October.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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