Former UFC title challenger will retire following Nashville Fight Night event

One ex-UFC title contender will be hanging up the gloves at the conclusion of the next “Fight Night” event.

UFC Nashville takes place on Saturday and will be headlined by a heavyweight collision between fan favorite Derrick Lewis and Tallison Teixeira. Featured on the preliminary portion of the card will be former UFC flyweight title challenger Lauren Murphy going one-on-one with Eduarda Moura.

As Murphy approaches the age of 42 later this month, she has decided that she’ll enter the Octagon for the final time this weekend.

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Lauren Murphy Set to Retire After UFC Nashville

During an interview with Aaron Bronsteter for Sportsnet, Lauren Murphy revealed that she plans to hang up her gloves once her fight with Eduarda Moura ends (h/t MMAJunkie).

“This is the last fight, this is the last one,” Murphy told Sportsnet. “I have two fights left on my contract, and I don’t want to fulfill the last one. I love the idea of retiring as a UFC fighter. Even if they cut me and end my contract or whatever, I’m not going to go fight anywhere else. I don’t want to go backwards. This is the best promotion in the world. It has the best fighters in the world. I’ve been here most of my career. I went from Alaska to Invicta to here, and I’m just really proud of that.

“I’m proud of how long I’ve been in the UFC. I’m proud of the things I’ve accomplished there, and I don’t want to do anything else, so this will be the last one. I also just feel like I’m not in a position anymore to chase the title, but I didn’t want to leave that fight after Andrade. I didn’t want to leave on that note. It kind of felt like I’d be tucking my tail in between my legs and running away. I knew I had a better performance in me than that, so I didn’t want to end on a sour note like that.”

If Murphy goes through with retirement, she’ll have ended her pro MMA run with 23 bouts. BJPenn.com will be covering UFC Nashville on Saturday. We’ll keep you up to speed on all of the bouts, including Murphy’s sendoff.