After 11 years as a Bellator ring card girl, Mercedes Terrell has decided to move on.
Terrell, one of Bellator’s most prominent faces, took part in her last card at Bellator 246 on Sept. 12, a move she planned from last year.
Speaking to MMA Junkie Radio, Terrell explained that she left Bellator on amicable terms and is grateful to have been part of the company for so long. Terrell wanted to focus on hosting her podcast “The MAJic Hour” with actress Jade Bryce and is looking to embark on other projects.
“I had originally talked to the producer December of last year and basically discussed what was next for me,” Terrell said. “What did I want to do going forward? Did I still want to be a ring girl? Was there another position in Bellator that made sense and at that point? I said I’d like that to be my last season as a ring girl, and then I had a bunch of ideas of what that would look like moving forward.
“I put together a whole program for them, and then COVID hit and changed a lot of things.”
We will miss you 😘 😢⁰
The greatest ring girl of all time, @MercedesTerrell makes her final cage-side appearance for Bellator tonight.
Mercedes has been a faithful Bellator Ambassador for the company for 11+ years and we can't wait to see where her career will lead next. pic.twitter.com/70K052vzJQ— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) September 13, 2020
Ultimately, while Terrell cherishes what she’s accomplished over the past 11 years, she simply felt it was time to try new things.
“For me, it was really this clarity of the transition that I was really just getting myself ready for which was moving from the limitations that being a ring girl held for me into the bigger space that felt right for me,” she said. “Which was exploring deeper on the podcast, ‘The MAJic Hour’ that I have with Jade and spending more of my time and attention on that and then really expanding the type of content and amount of content I can create for the directions that I’m passionate about.”
Terrell won’t rule out the possibility of getting involved in the MMA space again, but for now, she is content with growing her podcast and social media presence.
Check out the full video with Terrell in the video below.
