Correia Retiring After First Vegas Fight; ‘I’ve Always Dreamed Of Fighting Here’

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia is expected to retire from fighting later tonight (Sat., Oct. 2, 2021) at UFC Vegas 38 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Believe it or not, this will be the first time Correia is competing on Las Vegas soil. The long-time UFC veteran has been part of the promotion since 2013. Correia’s 11-fight UFC journey has taken her to such places like Abu Dhabi, Chicago, Brazil, Singapore, and Mexico, but never “Sin City.” It’s the perfect opportunity for the former contender to go out on her shield and step away from MMA.

“I was so happy, because I’d never fought here (in Vegas) before,” Correia told Combate. “Every time they booked a fight for me here, I either got injured or something else happened and they re-booked it elsewhere. Now it’s my last one. I’ve always dreamed of fighting here, it worked. It was only the place left for me to fight at.”

Correia, 38, has only won one out of her last five trips to the Octagon. In fact, the Brazilian veteran has only captured two victories since her knockout loss to Ronda Rousey for the UFC women’s bantamweight title back in 2015. Correia’s lack of success has steered her towards retirement, but she remains an intricate part in women’s MMA history having competed under the UFC banner during the Rousey error.

“It makes me really happy because I’ve contributed to that a little,” Correia said. “When I first started MMA, there were no women in the UFC. It was this crazy thing, where I would train and say ‘I’ll get there’, even though there were no women there. I’m part of the first generation of women in the UFC. My fight against Ronda Rousey caused an unimaginable growth in Brazil. All the girls who had never heard of MMA now knew what it was. They would look for gyms to compete, to train or to learn more about it. That’s because there so many news about that fight.”

Correia is a fighter who always goes for broke so expect the same tonight at UFC Vegas 38 as “Pitbull” tries to end her UFC tenure on a high note. She will match up against rising Brazilian contender Karol Rosa, who is 3-0 in UFC and looking to grab the torch from her fellow countrywoman,

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 38 fight card HERE, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.