Quote: If Rousey Wins Title, Cyborg Fight Will Definitely Happen
”The Rowdy One’ Ronda Rousey is back in the UFC, and she’s coming back for the title she lost nearly one year ago against Holly Holm at UFC 193 in Melbourne, when she takes on current women’s 135-pound champ Amanda Nunes at UFC 207.
UFC President Dana White appeared on The Herd earlier today to break the news, and also discussed the possibility of the long-awaited potential match-up between Rousey and the other woman who has been dominating female mixed martial arts (MMA), Cris ‘Cyborg’.
“I know that Cyborg wants that fight,” White said (courtesy of FOX Sports). “Ronda wants that fight, too. Ronda’s plan right now is to come back and try to win her title back and if that happens, the Cyborg fight will definitely happen.”
While Rousey reigned as the UFC’s bantamweight champion once upon a time, ‘Cyborg’ dominated women at her own championship weight of 145-pounds under the Invicta FC banner. Following Rousey’s first professional loss, however, ‘Cyborg’ finally made her presence felt in the UFC’s Octagon.
On May 14th ‘Cyborg’ made her UFC debut in her hometown of Brasilia, Brazil against Leslie Smith, where she downed Smith in the first round via TKO. Her second Octagon appearance was no different, as she welcomed UFC newcomer Lina Lansberg to the promotion with a vicious second round TKO in Brazil.
The Invicta champ has been campaigning hard for a shot at Rousey for years now, and according to White if Rousey is able to reclaim the title it may just happen.
Rousey’s loss was a devastating one for the former Olympic judoka, who openly admitted to having thoughts of suicide after the defeat. Despite this the UFC President says it was never a psychological issue that held Rousey out of the cage for so long, but the fact that she wanted some time off:
“The thing with Ronda was she wanted time off. She said ‘I want to go away, I want to relax’ but this girl worked hard for us for three years, non-stop, fight after fight, promotion after promotion and she wanted time off. In this sport, I say it all the time — if you even hint that I want to retire, or I want time off, you need to do it in this sport. You’ve got to be all in, in this sport. You’ve got to be all in, you’ve got to be a killer, you’ve got to want it, you’ve got to want to be a world champion.”
“Make no mistake, White promises that Rousey hasn’t lost a step in the time she’s been away. In fact, Rousey sent out a message on Twitter on Wednesday after her fight was announced with the tag “fear the return.”
#ufc207 #FeartheReturn #Dec30th #RouseyvsNunes pic.twitter.com/L3xrO8Wmi8
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) October 12, 2016
Millions of fans across the world witnessed one of the most dominant and feared female athletes of all time fall to a vicious head-kick at the hands of one of MMA’s most prolific strikers, but at the end of the day White says Rousey is still one of the baddest women on the planet:
“”Ronda Rousey has been the biggest, baddest female fighter on the planet now since we got into women’s fighting,” White said. “Ronda had a bad loss obviously and lost her title, but she’s still Ronda Rousey at the end of the day.”
Nunes and Rousey will meet in the main event of UFC 207 for the women’s bantamweight crown live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 30, 2016.
