Former UFC Women’s Strawweight Title challenger Claudia Gadelha was last seen in a losing effort against Jessica Andrade at UFC Fight Night Japan.
If the female fighter has her way, then she is not going to be in the Octagon against until February of next year.
"I haven’t trained in a month, and I’ve started to get crazy,” Gadelha said at a media event in Brazil. "I try not to watch fights, but I can’t [laughs]. I went to watch Poliana's (Botelho) fight, she’s a friend of mine, and I got all excited again. I said ‘no, I’ll get this off my head [laughs].’ I want to give my head some time, more time for my friends, for the people I love, to my family. I want to enjoy life, collect experiences with the people I love, and I really needed this time. I planned my life until February. I’ll travel with my parents. My parents never traveled outside of Brazil, and I’m taking them to the United States now, fulfilling a dream, and I’ll enjoy life for a bit until February, and then I’ll come back.”
This wouldn’t be the longest break of her UFC tenure because she took almost a year off in between fights at UFC 190 (August 2015) and the UFC Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale (July 2016).
Gadelha also admits that the decision loss she suffered to Andrade did teach her some valuable lessons.
"I think that fight taught me a lot,” Gadelha said. "A loss teaches you more than a win, everybody knows that, but I don’t want to forget that (fight). I want to watch it a thousand times to understand my mistakes. The times I’ve watched it, I could see it clearly. That never happened with me before. I entered the Octagon and wasn’t able to fight. I couldn’t fight, I couldn’t do anything, impose my game. Congratulations to Jessica, who imposed her game,” she added. "I consider myself way better than her technically, but she took it with her strength and will. I admire her for that. I want to watch this fight several times so it becomes a motivation."
There are currently no UFC events announced for 2018, but those announcements are expected to come shortly.
