Ronda Rousey shocked the world when she announced that her UFC career is coming to an end.
The former bantamweight champion hasn’t fought since being brutally KO’d by Holly Holm at 193 in Melbourne a year ago.
‘Rowdy’ is making her comeback at UFC 207 where she will fight champion Amanda Nunes for her old world title.
But the 29-year-old revealed that she only has a few fights left in her during a slot on the Ellen show in America.
When asked how long she’s going to continue fighting for, she admitted: “Not that long, I’m wrapping it up.”
“This is definitely one of my last fights. Everyone better watch because the show isn’t going to be around forever.”
.@RondaRousey has a great reason why you should watch this fight. pic.twitter.com/20lu2fYBdW
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) November 1, 2016
Rousey has been one of the biggest billers in the UFC history and she has twice topped the one million mark for PPV buys. Her up-coming fight with Nunes in December is even being tipped to break all PPV records with the organisation.
So it’s going to be a blow when one of their top stars calls it a day, but it’s something they knew about as UFC President Dana White explained in an interview with TMZ.
‘I want to let her say what she wants to say, yeah but it’s winding down for Ronda.
‘It’s up to her to say (how much longer she’ll fight), I don’t want to steal her thunder.
‘Ronda Rousey has made a lot of money, she’s accomplished what she set out to do.
‘She loves acting. She’s good at it and if she dedicates herself to it she’d get even better at it.
‘When Ronda says she’s done, she’s done. She stopped doing Judo, then moved onto mixed martial arts.
‘Now she’ll probably move onto acting.’
Rousey has already starred in some Hollywood films including Entourage, Expendables 3 and Furious 7 – and she’s playing the lead in the Road House remake.
So it’s no surprise that she’s transitioning to acting. But she’s obviously got unfinished business in the UFC and one fight that everyone is still talking about is the Cris Cyborg fight.
‘I’ve been saying for years that Ronda wants to fight Cyborg!
‘But any of these girls that weigh 135 pounds … Cyborg doesn’t want to go to 135 [pounds]. I think to make this superfight that everyone wants to see, we’ll have to agree on a weight.
‘I dunno yet, Ronda could say ‘I’ll take her at 145 pounds.’ I dunno. But I’m just assuming that’s what’s gonna happen.’
Rousey has said previously that her last fight could be Cyborg – and win or lose, she’d walk away after that. But as we saw recently there’s not a chance Cyborg could make it down any lower than 140 so agreeing a catchweight is the only way it could happen. Whether it ever will though is another thing.
Colm O’Rourke and Pauric Mahony join Colm Parkinson on a packed GAA Hour that includes Dick Clerkin appreciation and Sean Cavanagh envy. Subscribe here on iTunes.
