Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently released women's bantamweight competitor Sheila Gaff (10-6) less than two weeks after her second consecutive loss, a first round technical knockout defeat to Amanda Nunes at UFC 163 in Brazil.
Gaff signed her four-fight ZUFFA contract in March after three impressive wins at flyweight on the independent circuit.
The 135-pound "German Tank" made her Octagon debut at UFC 159 in April 2013; however, her first appearance didn't go as planned against Olympic wrestler Sara McMann, who scored a lopsided technical knockout win.
International mixed martial arts (MMA) media outlet GroundandPound.de first broke the news, which also included comments from Gaff on her brief UFC run:
"Disappointments and defeats happen to all athletes in this career, but I will go on. Most of all I am sorry that I could not show my fans what I can really do. In the last two weeks, my love and uplifting words many of my fans have helped."
At just 23 years old and with budding female-only organizations doing well, Gaff is sure to find a new home soon where she can likely return to her winning ways. How exactly it will now "go on" for her, whether it's a potential move to Invicta FC or back to 125 pounds (or both), is still unclear at the moment.
Perhaps the silver lining about being a footnote in UFC history as the first-ever female fighter to be released from the promotion, is that she can be the first-ever female fighter to win her way back into the Octagon.
Time will tell.