After 18 years in the combat game, longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Roxanne Modafferi has announced her retirement from the hurt business following her fight against Casey O’Neill at UFC 271 on Feb. 12, 2022.
“The Happy Warrior” announced her decision on Instagram.
Modafferi made her pro debut in Nov. 2003, defeating Hikaru Shinohara via first-round armbar in Japan. She eventually went on to compete for several organizations including runs in Strikeforce, King of the Cage (KOTC), Cage Warriors and Invicta.
She also had two stints on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) with the first one coming in 2013 as part of the cast for “Rousey vs Tate,” and then another one in 2017. Modafferi made her official UFC debut in 2013, a loss to Raquel Pennington. She went on to compete for Invicta for the next four years before returning to the Octagon in 2017 after her second appearance on TUF earned her a shot at the inaugural women’s Flyweight title against Nicco Montano.
Despite coming up short in her first and only shot at UFC gold, Modafferi went on to compete nine more times for the promotion, earning big wins over Antonina Shevchenko, Andrea Lee and Maycee Barber. Currently on a two-fight losing streak, “The Happy Warrior” hopes to ride off into the sunset with a win in what will be her fiftieth MMA fight.
It will be a tough task, to say the least, because O’Neill is currently undefeated at 8-0 including earning three straight stoppage victories under the UFC banner.