Felice Herrig signs with BKFC after recently announcing MMA retirement

Felice Herrig isn’t done with combat sports just yet.

The 37-year-old Team Curran product has signed a multi-fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship after announcing her retirement in the Octagon following a second-round submission loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz on June 4. BKFC confirmed the news in a release following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. A debut date and opponent for Herrig were not revealed.

“BKFC is very excited to announce this major signing today,” BKFC president David Feldman said in the release. “Felice was one of UFC’s most popular fighters during her eight years with the company and now sees an opportunity to succeed in bare-knuckle fighting. We have a wealth of talented and tough female fighters and look forward to watching her compete in the squared circle."

Herrig compiled a 14-10 career mark in MMA over the course of a career that began in 2009. “Lil Bulldog” went 5-5 in UFC competition and also fought for Bellator MMA and Invicta during her professional tenure. Herrig lost her last four UFC appearances.

“It’s been an honor being in the UFC in eight years and fighting for 20. I had two ACL surgeries and I really wanted to not go out like that,” Herrig said following the loss to Kowalkiewicz. “I wanted to prove to myself that I can overcome two knee surgeries and come back and still fight at the highest level.

“I felt better than ever in training. My mind felt great… But I knew that if I wasn’t feeling it in the cage, it was going to be my last fight. Not in a bad way, I just feel like there’s something else for me. It’s time to close this chapter in my life — which is really sad because I’ve committed the past 20 years to it. But it’s just time to move on to something else.”