MMA: Miesha Tate retires after losing to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205

FORMER women’s bantamweight world champion Miesha Tate announced that she would be retiring from mixed martial arts after a 10-year career.

The announcement came immediately after her unanimous decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in New York, Sunday.

According to Fox Sports, Tate’s sudden announcement “shocked fans everywhere”.

"I'm announcing my retirement, you guys. I love you all so much. I've been doing this for over a decade. Thank you so much for being here. I love this sport forever. But it's not my time anymore. It's the future's time.

"It's because of the result. I had a lot more to give but I couldn't pull it out of myself. It's been a long time, taken a lot of punishment. I still love this sport. I love you guys so much, thank you, but this is it for me,” she said as quoted in CBS Sports.

It was almost a close fight for Tate and Pennington throughout the rounds, but Pennington’s smart defence play deprived the former from her ground game.

Pennington’s strikes and inside punches took the fight to the last round, and granted her the win via judges’ decision.

Tate retires with an 18-7 record in her MMA career. She lost her world title to Amanda Nunes in UFC 200, after losing to the Brazilian via submission in the first round.