On December 30th, 2016, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returned to the Octagon for a very highly anticipated return over a year following her devastating loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, which saw her lose the women’s bantamweight title.
When Rousey returned to the Octagon she did so against reigning champion, Amanda Nunes, who was looking to build momentum on her impressive 4-fight win streak that had seen her go unbeaten for nearly two years. When the pair stepped into the Octagon in Las Vegas, it took just 48 seconds for Nunes to hand Rousey her second straight professional loss.
Following the loss to Nunes, many speculated as to whether or not Rousey would return to the Octagon for a second time following such a devastating loss. While Rousey herself has remained quiet regarding the matter, two interesting bits of information have emerged regarding Rousey’s future.
Now long after the loss, UFC President Dana White released a statement in which he revealed that at the present time, it appeared as though Rousey would not be returning to the Octagon, in order to pursue other endeavors outside of fighting. Given that, it left fight fans rather stunned when several weeks ago news surfaced that Rousey had partnered with a new strength & conditioning coach, leading many to wonder whether she was in the planning stages of another Octagon return. In addition, the news of Rousey partnering with a new coach came after Ronda Rousey’s nemesis, Miesha Tate, released a statement in which she stated that she only consider coming out of retirement for a trilogy fight with Rousey.
Now, in a new interview, UFC President Dana White spoke about the status of Rousey’s return to MMAJunkie, saying:
“Ronda and I talk maybe once a week, once every two weeks. She has not said anything to me about a comeback.”
“If I had to guess, I would guess that she will not come back.”
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/12/2017.