Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Yes, you read that right. The one time dominant champion is taking her talents to the world of “professional wrestling”.
So, has she officially retired from MMA?
Who knows! You certinally can’t derive an answer from her response to the outright question by ESPN’s reporter.
Watching this interview live, I kept thinking to myself “She’s still hurting inside” … and then she was asked about her last 2 fights. This was her response:
Moving forward, while Ronda Rousey would not come straight out and say that she has officially retired from the sport of MMA and the UFC, it certinally sounds like there is little time in her life for anything else but the WWE.
She seems completely devoted to the next chapter of her life.
The truth is, in a lot of ways, the sport of MMA has moved on. The talent pool of the women’s divisions are deeper than they have ever been a fighter like Rousey either needed to evolve or get passed by. Part of me hoped that Rousey would come back and focus on her world class grappling similar to what we have seen from the likes of Demian Maia. Unfortunately that does not seem to be in the cards.
Ronda Rousey was an amazing ambassador for the sport of female MMA and there is no doubt that she paved the way for a new generation of female fighters. While her star was shining it’s brightest, Ronda Rousey was one of the most dominant fighters in all of combat sports. That’s the way I will remember her. That’s the way we should all remember her.
Andy Gonzalez is a coach at Aces Jiu Jitsu Club. He has earned his BJJ Brown Belt under 2nd Degree Black Belt, Professor Mikal Abdullah. Follow Andy on Twitter at @GoGoGonzilla
Andy lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Amanda and their 3 beautiful children. Andy is also the father of a Marine who is honorably serving in the United States Marine Corps.