Bethe Correia gets opponent for retirement fight in December

Veteran UFC women’s bantamweight Bethe Correia will retire following a matchup against Yanan Wu at a UFC event scheduled for December.

Correia was reportedly released by the UFC in August, however it appears she is getting one last fight in the Octagon. According to AG Fight, Correia is set to take on Wu on December 5, at a UFC Fight Night card headlined by middleweights Darren Till and Jack Hermansson. Correia has confirmed via her Instagram this is indeed her retirement fight.

Correia (11-5-1) is 37 years old and has lost three of her last four fights overall, including a decision defeat to Pannie Kianzad on Fight Island. Correia has an overall record of 5-5-1 in the Octagon, including notable wins over Jessica Eye, Sijara Eubanks, Julie Kedzie, Shayna Baszler, and Jessamyn Duke. She is most well-known for her fight against then-UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 190 in 2015. In her first and only title fight in the UFC, Correia was on the wrong end of a brutal 34-second knockout.

The UFC had reportedly released Correira following the loss to Kianzad which makes sense considering UFC president Dana White has said the promotion is looking to trim its roster to make room for new fighters from the Contender Series. However, it appears the UFC is doing Correia a solid here and allowing her to go out on her own terms. With a win against Wu, the Brazilian Correia has the chance to move above a .500 record in the UFC.

Wu (11-3) is just 1-2 overall in the UFC with a win over Lauren Mueller and losses to Mizuki Inoue and Gina Mazany. Prior to making her UFC debut, the 24-year-old Wu had gone 10-1 on the Chinese regional scene with eight wins by stoppage. She has not fared as well in the UFC as she has a losing record in the promotion. Additionally, she missed weight in her last fight against Inoue and thus has decided to back up from flyweight to bantamweight for this fight.

Though Wu does not have a winning record in the UFC, the fact she is 13 years younger and hasn’t been in the wars that Correia has been in should lead to her being the betting favorite to win this fight. But with Correia planning on retiring following the event, she will surely be highly motivated to silence the doubters in the final fight of her MMA career.

What do you make of Bethe Correia retiring from MMA after this final fight?