Ahead of her UFC title redemption against Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, Ronda Rousey appeared on American daytime chat-show “Ellen” where she responded to some of the issues that have surrounded her for the past year.
After a devastating knockout at the hands of Holly Holm at UFC 193, Rousey admitted she had thoughts of killing herself. This led many to question whether she had the mental toughness to bounce back from such a disappointing loss or whether she would ever fight again considering the options offered to her outside of MMA.
Although we now know she will fight again in December, Rousey suggested that her MMA career could in fact be coming to an end in the near future.
“I’m wrapping it up,” Rousey told host Ellen DeGeneres. “This is definitely one of my last fights. Everyone better watch because the show isn’t going to be around forever.”
A true pioneer of women’s MMA, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey started her professional career in 2011 after winning a bronze in Judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was quickly signed by UFC after going 6-0 and winning the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight title from Miesha Tate. As the first female fighter in the UFC, they officially announced she would be there first UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion and she would go on to dominate the division, defending her title six times and becoming a household name throughout the world.
Also in the interview with DeGeneres, the 29-year-old seemed to hint that she feels the pressure of expectation when it comes to the lead up to fight night.
“I think it’s more of the build-up that’s more tiring than anything else,” she said. “Like, if we had a fight right now, I’d be like, I’d fight right now and I’ll go get dinner, and I wouldn’t feel like really tired about it. It’s the weeks and weeks of build-up beforehand, and you know you’re fighting this one person, and it’s this showdown, the most important thing in your life, and millions of people are watching.
“It’s that build-up for weeks on end. If it just happened right now, I wouldn’t be nervous at all. It’s the waiting.”
Although it’s very clear that Rousey’s long term goals now lie away from the sport of MMA, a long awaited fight against Cris “Cyborg” Justino is still one that many fans want to see.
It would be hard to deny that, with a couple of fights left in her, there would no better way to bring the curtain down on such an illustrious career than by finally facing the fearsome Brazilian.
