Brittney Palmer, who was one of the most recognizable and popular ring girls in MMA history, retired from the UFC at the end of 2023. However, Dana White had no idea that she had decided to leave his promotion. When the UFC CEO heard about Palmer’s announcement, it came as a surprise to him.

Brittney Palmer worked under the UFC banner for over 16 years. She had been one of the leading ring girls in the promotion. However, Palmer decided to wrap up her ring girl career as she revealed how she came about her retirement decision during an exclusive interview with ‘MMA Junkie‘.

Brittney Palmer felt it was the right time to retire

The 36-year-old former ring girl mentioned that her decision to retire didn’t happen all of a sudden. Moreover, nobody had any influence on Brittney Palmer’s decision to wrap up her ring girl career. Instead, she believed that it was time for her to turn over a new leaf, as she mentioned how grateful she was to have worked as a ring girl in the UFC.

“I chose to do something because I felt that it was time, not because someone told me it was time. And as a woman in this sport [and] to be able to give yourself an audience and a voice to do it, I thought that was really, really cool,” Palmer said. Nevertheless, she was still feeling a bit sad during UFC 296 that she would be moving on to other ventures given that for almost half of her life, she had been a part of the UFC.

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“The last fight, I was standing back and I’m kinda looking around, realizing that I’m never going to be in this position anymore, and it was bittersweet, ” the former UFC ring girl added. Furthermore, Brittney Palmer made a surprising revelation when she mentioned that Dana White had no idea that she was going to retire.

Dana White got to know about Palmer’s retirement during the World MMA Awards show

Brittney Palmer revealed that when she told Dana White about her decision to retire, the UFC’s head honcho could not comprehend that, since she had been a part of his promotion for 16 years. She wanted to confirm her departure from the UFC and ended up sending a text message to the UFC CEO. However, White did not seem to respond in time. Palmer further stated, “He really didn’t believe [at first]. I mean, because I had told him before I was presenting his award and I had actually tried to text him and tell him what I wanted to do and he kind of just like didn’t respond.”

Thereafter, following last year’s Thanksgiving, she tried to contact Dana White regarding her decision once again. However, the 54-year-old promoter failed to respond yet again. This left Brittney Palmer with only one choice. She decided to let White know about her retirement when she won the Ringcard Girl of the Year honor for a record fifth time. “It was after Thanksgiving and I just thought it would’ve been the right thing to do to let him know that I was planning on retiring. I didn’t hear back from him, so I was like, ‘Well, I guess he’s going to have to find out at the award show,” Palmer added.

Despite Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov claiming that ring girls add no value in MMA, Brittney Palmer left an indelible mark in the UFC. She is now focused on her career as an artist, and that was the reason she decided to retire from the UFC. It remains to be seen how her life after UFC shapes up to be in the years to come.

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