Ronda Rousey May Just Return To MMA – And The UFC Needs Her
It’s been almost two months since former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey suffered her second straight stoppage loss to Amanda Nunes at December 30’s UFC 207 from Las Vegas, and we still haven’t heard or seen an official public word from the “Rowdy” one herself.
Sure, she released a canned thank you to her fans shortly after the loss, and followed it up with a cryptic motivational quote days later. Rousey also surfaced – if you want to call it that – again on social media this week with the following Instagram post that could suggest she’s at least considering a return to the competition she once ruled for years:
That’s a speculative-at-best bit of info to go off of, yet it’s by far the most suggestive words we’ve got from Rousey in the weeks and months after her second straight devastating stoppage loss.
Her shockingly rapid downfall was of course set into motion by a vicious Holly Holm head kick in the main event of UFC 193, and many urged her to ditch her highly criticized head coach Edmond Tarverdyan and find a new camp, but she refused. That lead to another loss to the dominant Nunes, and many believed and still believe she will retire.
However, even a slim chance of her returning is big news for the UFC in their painfully tough start to 2017. With her and lightweight champion Conor McGregor‘s statuses up in the air, new owners WME-IMG are finding out the hard way just how star-driven this business is, and they need both of their biggest stars back soon.
Rousey’s previously high-profile acting roles seem to be reducing a bit after two losses, and while she doesn’t need the money, fighting is in her DNA. It’s clearly going to take a broad change of scenery and philosophy, however.
What do you think? Will “Rowdy” ever return to the cage?
