Former UFC strawweight championship challenger, Karolina Kowalkiewicz has brought a long-awaited close to her run of five consecutive defeats — submitting two-time opponent, Felice Herrig with a second round rear-naked choke in the featured preliminary matchup of UFC Vegas 56.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz, a former KSW flyweight champion and one-time title challenger under the UFC banner, most recently struck gold with a split decision win over the aforenoted, Herrig at UFC 223 in April 2017.
In the time since that most recent win, however, Kowalkiewicz, a native of Lodz, Poland — had suffered five straight defeats against Jessica Andrade, Michelle Waterson, Alexa Grasso, Yan Xiaonan, and Jessica Penne.
Making her first Octagon walk since August of last year at UFC 261, Kowalkiewicz managed to secure her first victory over four years with a re-run submission success against Herrig — adding to prior career wins over the likes of Jodie Esquibel, Heather Jo Clark, Randa Markos, Kalindra Faria, Mizuki Inoue, and former UFC strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas.
Following her submission rematch loss to Kowalkiewicz, Herrig, an eight-year veteran of the UFC — announced her retirement from professional mixed martial arts, leaving her gloves inside the Octagon.
Below, catch the highlights from Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s submission win against Felice Herrig
Back in a ??? way
@KarolinaMMA earns the R2 submission to launch herself back into the win column.
[ #UFCVegas56 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/EHW8HRPB0p
— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2022
Congratulations on a great career, @FeliceHerrig
— UFC (@ufc) June 4, 2022
