UFC veteran and women’s MMA pioneer, Lauren Murphy called it a career on Saturday night in Nashville. Murphy, 41, took a unanimous decision defeat to Eduarda Moura. Murphy took the gloves off in the Octagon and called it a career.
After the loss to Moura, Murphy addressed the crowd and left her gloves in the cage—a symbolic gesture that fighters often use to announce retirement.
“I came out here and I gave it everything I have. I’ve been in the UFC for 10 years, I’ve been fighting for 15. I wanted to come out and just give it my all one more time, hear the cheers of the crowd and walk out with the American flag. I love all of you guys so much. There’s a lot of people to thank. But first of all, I want to thank me for doing all this motherf—ing hard work. I want to thank me for being a pioneer for women in this sport. I want to thank me for picking myself and dusting myself off every time I got knocked down.”
Murphy got the most out of her athletic career. She did just about everything one could imagine in the sport, short of capturing UFC gold. Murphy punched her ticket to the UFC back in 2013 when she won the vacant Invicta bantamweight title with a victory over Miriam Nakamoto.
While Murphy’s UFC career began with back-to-back losses, she battled back. Murphy’s best run in the UFC came during a five-fight win streak from 2019–2021. That win streak led to Murphy’s only title opportunity in the UFC.
At UFC 266 in September 2021, Murphy clashed with Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight championship. Shevchenko successfully defended her title via fourth-round TKO.
Murphy rebounded with a unanimous decision win over fellow icon Miesha Tate in 2022, but her career ends with two losses to Jessica Andrade in January 2023 and Friday’s loss to Moura.
Murphy’s career is the kind fans respect even if they didn’t always pick her to win.
According to Tristen Critchfield of Sherdog, Murphy’s place as a trailblazer in women’s MMA is cemented by her longevity, her title challenge against one of the greatest champions in UFC history, and her willingness to always take on the toughest available opponent.
Her Invicta success, UFC run, and defining win over Tate give her a résumé that stacks up with many of the best fighters never to win a UFC title. Most everyone else with a similar resume did break through to win a title at some point.
Murphy is moving on to other endeavors following her retirement. Her understanding of the sport and personality would make her a great fit as an analyst. We’ll see where she lands following a distinguished career.