Megumi Fujii announces retirement plans after one final fight in Japan

After nearly 10 years in the MMA game, Megumi Fujii will hang up the gloves – after one final fight.

Fujii (26-2) on Saturday announced her pending retirement on her Twitter account, saying she will compete for Vale Tudo Japan on October 3, then call it quits.

Of her 26 career wins, the 39-year-old has 19 by submission and has never been stopped – her only two losses have gone the distance.

Fujii started her MMA career an amazing 22-0 before suffering her first loss, a split-decision setback to Zoila Frausto Gurgel at Bellator 34 in a fight to determine the promotion’s first 115-pound women’s champion.

Prior to that loss, after fighting just three times outside her native Japan in her first 19 fights, she came to the States and picked up three wins for Bellator.

Against Sarah Schneider at Bellator 21, she earned the first and so far only knockout win over her career with a third-round stoppage. At Bellator 24, she tapped Carla Esparza with a second-round armbar in the opening round of the promotion’s inaugural women’s tournament. And at Bellator 31, she submitted Lisa Ellis just 99 seconds into their semifinal tourney fight with an armbar to set up the fight with Gurgel.

After the loss to Gurgel, which was a controversial decision, Fujii returned to Japan and won three straight before coming back Stateside to fight Jessica Aguilar at Bellator 69. But she dropped that fight by unanimous decision by a trio of 29-28 scores.

Her most recent outing was a unanimous decision win over Mei Yamaguchi at Vale Tudo Japan’s December show.

An opponent has not yet been announced for Fujiis retirement fight. She becomes the third well-known fighter to retire this week, following Bellator’s Renato Sobral and Seth Petruzelli, who announced they would end their careers after losses at Bellator 96 on Wednesday.