UFC Veteran Retires In The Octagon After Vicious TKO Loss

It seems every week a fighter in the UFC is leaving their gloves in the Octagon and calling it a career. It was Marina Rodriguez’s turn on Saturday night in Des Moines, Iowa, as she announced her retirement minutes after losing to Gillian Robertson via a nasty second-round TKO.

Here is a look at Rodriguez’s announcement to the crowd.

Here is a look at the finish that led to the retirement.

Rodriguez, 38, walks away from the sport of MMA with a 17-6-2 record and a 7-6-2 mark in the UFC. It’s been a tough stretch for Rodriguez, who has lost three straight and five of her last six fights.

Rodriguez’s only win during that stretch was a Performance-of-the-Night victory over Michelle Waterson-Gomez in September 2023. However, Waterson-Gomez was beginning the five-fight losing streak that led to her retiring in the Octagon in June 2024. Coincidentally, Robertson was the fighter who defeated her and prompted an in-Octagon retirement.

Rodriguez earned her shot in the UFC after scoring an impressive first-round TKO win over Maria Oliveira in 2018 on Dana White’s Contender Series Brazil.

Once Rodriguez got to the main roster, she quickly proved she belonged.

She fought Randa Markos to a draw in her main roster debut before winning back-to-back fights against Jessica Aguilar and Tecia Pennington. Rodriguez registered another draw with Cynthia Calvillo in December 2019, and wound up losing to all-time great Carla Esparza in July 2020.

From 2021–2022, Rodriguez experienced the prime of her UFC career. She reeled off four straight wins beginning with a Performance-of-the-Night win over Amanda Ribas in January 2021. She then knocked off Waterson-Gomez in their first meeting, Mackenzie Dern, and Xiaonan Yan.

Things went downhill from there as she ran into stiff competition throughout the strawweight division. While coming close, Rodriguez never got an opportunity to fight for the title, but she did clash with some of the top fighters in her division over the course of her seven-year career in the UFC.

All things considered, she arrived in the UFC a bit late in her life but still accomplished a lot more than most fighters who pick up the sport—and even those who make it to the UFC.

Here is a look at all of the results and highlights from UFC Des Moines.

UFC Des Moines Main Card Results

• Cory Sandhagen def. Deiveson Figueiredo via TKO (injury) at 4:08 of Round 2
• Reinier de Ridder def. Bo Nickal via TKO at 1:53 of Round 2
• Daniel Rodriguez def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via TKO at 1:12 of Round 3
• Montel Jackson def. Daniel Marcos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Serhiy Sidey def. Cameron Smotherman via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mason Jones def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

UFC Des Moines Preliminary Card Results

• Yana Santos def. Miesha Tate via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Azamat Bekoev def. Ryan Loder via TKO at 2:44 of Round 1
• Gillian Robertson def. Marina Rodriguez via TKO at 2:07 of Round 2
• Quang Le def. Gaston Bolanos via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:54 of Round 2
• Thomas Petersen def. Don’Tale Mayes via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26)
• Juliana Miller def. Ivana Petrovic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

UFC Des Moines Bonus Awards

• Performance of the Night: Cory Sandhagen, Reinier de Ridder, Azamat Bekoev, Quang Le
• No Fight of the Night bonus was awarded.