Ana Cláudia Dantas Gadelha (Portuguese pronunciation: ; born December 7, 1988), is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the Women's Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
As of 2022, Gadelha works for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on fighter development in her native Brazil.
Gadelha had a tough late childhood and early youth. Her mother did not get along with her rebellious character, which, in her opinion, did not fit a girl. Gadelha's wish to practice martial arts was also not tolerated by her parents. Later she came into contact with drugs and bad friends, which forced her parents to take her to Natal to keep her away from these influences and finish high school. This relocation changed her life completely. At the age of 14, she started to work out secretly in a gym. One day Gadelha went to an MMA event in Natal where she saw a female fight. The experience raised her passion for the sport. At the same event, she met Jair Lourenço, leader of the gym 'Kimura Nova União' in Natal, and he invited her to take a class at the academy. Shortly afterward, by sheer coincidence, her father rented an apartment in the Kimura headquarters, and with that, her relationship with Nova União was cemented. Henceforth she dedicated her life to martial arts and never got involved in drugs again. At age 18, Gadelha moved to Rio de Janeiro where she celebrated her successes in BJJ and debuted in MMA. "The sport was teaching me how I should deal with life. Today, I am a completely different person, thanks to martial arts" Gadelha has said.
Gadelha previously trained at Nova União with former UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo. She is the youngest BJJ black belt in Nova União's history. Gadelha opened her own gym in March 2016 (Claudia Gadelha's MMA & BJJ Academy). In August 2016, she decided to move to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and left Nova União. As of November 1, 2016, Cláudia Gadelha's Academy (now CG Ultimate Fitness Academy) moved to Randolph, New Jersey. By request of the leaders of her training gym 'Luttrell/Yee MMA' Gadelha moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in July 2017. She also trained at Jackson-Wink MMA Academy which has relationships with Luttrell/Yee MMA.
In early 2018, Gadelha moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where she trains at the UFC Performance Institute and Xtreme Couture. In spring 2019 she found professional management at 'Dominance MMA Management. They recommended doing her fight camps at 'Nick Catone MMA' in Bricktown, New Jersey under the tutelage of Mark Henry (striking) and Ricardo Almeida (BJJ). The normal training will continue to take place in Las Vegas.
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| Invicta FC Womens | Win Knockout | Invicta FC | 2013 | 1 |
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