Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Irene Aldana has announced her retirement from MMA at 38-years-old.

Aldana has been on the UFC’s roster for almost a decade, something that hadn’t seemed all that unlikely at the start of her time in the Octagon as she actually lost her first two fights on the scorecards after joining from Invicta FC in 2016.

However, Aldana would go on to win seven of her next nine fights, beating the likes of Macy Chiasson, Ketlen Vieira, Yana Kunitskaya and Bethe Correia along the way.

That run earned Aldana a 135lb title shot against Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 289 back in 2023, but she lost to the dominant champion by unanimous decision.

Aldana did then get back on track with a unanimous decision win over Karol Rosa, but last time out she was defeated on the scorecards by Norma Dumont.

That was almost two years ago and Aldana hasn’t fought since, with the decision now finally coming to step away from MMA, though the word from her management is that she may now compete in other combat sports.

Aldana retires from MMA with her UFC record standing at 8-6, while her career record is 15-8.