Ronda Rousey Implies UFC Return Is Highly Unlikely
Ronda Rousey hasn’t necessarily retired from mixed martial arts, but the former UFC bantamweight champion recently implied that a return to fighting is highly unlikely.
“I don’t know,” Rousey told Ellen DeGeneres in a recent interview. “I think it’s just as likely as me going back to another Olympics for judo. No one demanded a written resignation from me for judo and I don’t really think the same thing is necessary for fighting. I’m just doing what I enjoy and WWE is what I enjoy right now.”
Upon her entry into the UFC in 2013, Rousey took the sport by storm, winning her first six fights in the Octagon with all six ending via stoppage, while defending her 135-pound title six-straight times.
Then, however, she hit a rough patch.
At UFC 193 in November 2015, Rousey was upset by Holly Holm, losing via second-round TKO and surrendering her title.
After that fight, she remained on the sidelines and away from the media for just over a year before returning at UFC 207 in December 2016 to challenge Amanda Nunes for the title. Once again, however, things didn’t go her way, as she was stopped by Nunes in just 47 seconds.
Following the loss to the “Lioness”, many had felt as if we had seen the last of Rousey in the Octagon and it appears as if we have.
The “Rowdy” one, a longtime professional wrestling fan, made her WWE debut earlier this year at the Royal Rumble. She will compete in her first match next month at Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans.
Thus far, she has played a role in a storyline that includes her teaming up with Kurt Angle and taking on Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.
“It’s like a team,” Rousey said. “I’ve never been on a team my whole life. I was a swimmer, that was alone. I did judo, that was alone. I was a fighter, that was alone. With WWE, it’s like a big team. Everybody is working together to try to make it as great as possible.”
Ultimately, Rousey seems happy at her new home and it’s quite possible that she’ll remain there moving forward.
“I’m nervous, but it’s not like Olympics nervous,” Rousey said. “The worst thing that’ll happen is I’ll look stupid, which is not the worst thing that could really happen. I can’t think of the last time I was so excited for anything. I’m really looking forward to it, you know what I mean?”
