Den tidigare titelutmanaren i UFCs stråvikt, Claudia Gadelha, väljer att lämna MMA bakom sig då hon nu går i pension.
Claudia Gadelha pensionerar sig
Den tidigare utmanaren om titeln i UFCs stråvikt, Claudia Gadelha (18-5), har tagit beslutet att pensionera sig och lämnar därmed MMA bakom sig. Efter en karriär inom MMA där hela 12 matcher ägt rum i världens främsta organisation, UFC, kunde Gadelha under slutet av förra veckan meddela att hon nu tagit beslutet att pensionera sig. Beslutet nåddes efter att Gadelha sedan en tid tillbaka lidit av en allvarlig hjärnskakning och effekterna av denna.
Led av effekterna av en hjärnskakning
Under en livesändning på sitt instagramkonto talade Gadelha om beslutet och berättade då att hon inte är missnöjd utan snarare glad över att vara i det skede av sitt liv som hon är just nu. Hon berättar dock att någonting som ledde henne till att ta beslutet att pensionera sig var de huvudsmärtor hon led av under en lång tid till följd av skador hon dragit på sig i samband med MMA.
I don’t want anybody to think that I’m sad because I’m very happy with what’s going on in my life right now. In November of 2020 after a fight I had a really bad concussion and I had a post-concussion syndrome, which is the symptoms of a concussion for a long period of time. So I suffered with the symptoms for a little while. It was very frustrating because my headaches were like a knife stabbing the back of my head. I was very nauseous, almost throwing up, feeling very, very bad. I couldn’t even go for a walk, couldn’t train, it was very frustrating.
Tvingades till sjukhuset och kunde inte fortsätta träna som vanligt
Hjärnskakningen hon led av tvingade Gadelha till sjukhuset vid två tillfällen och det var i samband med detta hon började överväga att avsluta karriären. Beslutet att avsluta karriären togs sedan då hon märkt att hon inte kunde träna på det sätt hon ville när hon väl kom tillbaka till gymmet.
I had to rush to the hospital in the beginning of my concussion twice. I ended up in the emergency room twice and I’m here in Las Vegas by myself and my family’s in Brazil, it was during COVID so I couldn’t fly to Brazil to go be with my family because it was like in the beginning of the concussion so I couldn’t fly and my parents couldn’t come here because of COVID. I had to spend a lot of time by myself during the concussion and that was very, very frustrating. With that being said I started thinking about not fighting anymore. I had a lot of feelings of, ‘OK, I’m gonna go back, I’m gonna beat this time of my life and I’m gonna go back and fight,’ and then other times I would just feel like I shouldn’t be fighting anymore because I had so many other opportunities in life. I took a little bit more time and went back to the gym and tried to train and I started getting hit in the head and having anxiety from getting hit in the head and being afraid of going back to work where I was in the beginning of the concussion. I did a lot of brain treatments to get healthier and I was so afraid of going back to what it was and then a lot of other opportunities showed up in my life.
Tog beslutet för flera månader sedan
Gadelha menar att hon tog beslutet att pensionera sig flera månader sedan och att hon idag upplever mer glädje i att hjälpa yngre fighters än att tävla själv.
I decided to retire a couple of months back. I had a little flashback, like I’m gonna go back and fight, a few months ago I had that feeling that I was going to go back and fight again, but I was just not there anymore. How many fighters actually continue to fight and they do five, 10 more fights when they know that it’s already over? I don’t want to be one of those fighters. I just don’t feel like I belong there anymore. Fighting is not comfortable to start with, but I don’t feel good in the octagon anymore. I don’t feel happy there anymore and it makes me more happy today to help younger talents than me stepping in there and fighting and I feel like I conquered a lot of things in fighting in my life.
Glad över beslutet att inte längre tävla
Till slut menar Gadelha att trots att hon är glad över beslutet att inte längre tävla så är det en känslomässig övergång till pension då en stor del av hennes liv har varit som tävlandes inom MMA.
I grew up in Brazil in a very small town. I had to go through a lot of struggles to be where I am today and I’m very proud of everything I have done in life. It’s very emotional to me to go through this transitioning of, like, I was an athlete for almost 20 years of my life and now I’m just gonna do other things. It’s okay, it’s just a little hard to process because that’s what I’ve done my entire life. I’m not sad, I’m so happy to be able to help other people, help younger talents to do their thing. And that’s it, so I don’t want you guys to think that I’m sad because I’m retiring. Actually, that was a long process, I had to think and talk and go through things to decide that was the best thing for me to do and yeah, that’s it for me. I’m not gonna be one of those fighters that retires and then goes back to the sport. That’s it for me, you guys will never see me in the octagon again.
Gadelhas sista match i oktagonen ägde rum den 7:e november förra året och för motståndet stod då Xiaonan Yan (13-2-1).
