It’s easy to look at Felice Herrig ’s retirement and think she’s like countless other mixed martial artists to call it a career only to return soon after, but that’s not the case. “When I retired from MMA, it was clearly MMA for me,” Herrig told MMA Junkie. “Also, you know, with the UFC, you’ve got to make sure you’re out of their contract. Now I can do what I want.” And so one month after she retired following a submission loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Fight Night 207, it was announced that Herrig signed a contract with Bare Knuckle FC . Herrig, 37, began her combat sports career as a kickboxer – where she was 23-5 as a professional – well before she got her start in MMA in 2009. She admits now that she only got into MMA because she was drawn by the rise of the sport in the years that followed the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Eventually, Herrig got her big break when she competed on Season 20 of “TUF” in 2014, which was the first to feature an all-female cast competing for the inaugural UFC strawweight championship