‘Rowdy’ is growing more used to bitter taste of defeat, it would seem.
Her good friend and UFC president Dana White spent three-quarters of an hour back stage with Ronda Rousey following her 48-second UFC 207 annihilation at the hands of bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
This was the previously untouchable champ’s second defeat in a row – albeit more than 13 months apart – and White assured ESPN viewers that Rousey was taking the loss relatively well.
That is relative to her shock UFC 193 defeat to Holly Holm, which saw Rousey take an extended hiatus from the sport after admitting to suicidal thoughts.
“I hung out with her for maybe 45 minutes. I’ll tell you this, she is in better spirits now than she was after the Holly fight. She loves to fight, she is very competitive. She loves to do what she sets out to do,” said White.
Lit her up like a Christmas tree #UFC207 https://t.co/pGOw7l8jpQ
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 31, 2016
Despite undertaking only a tiny fraction of the media duties ahead of her heavily-promoted return against Nunes, Rousey banked a massive $3million cheque in defeat.
Such paydays are both the argument for and against Rousey returning to the Octagon for a 15th professional fight (a ninth in the UFC) – she is wealthy enough to not need the hardship, but would likely still be a huge draw for the promotion.
White, for his part, did not know whether Rousey would return or not, but he did take the opportunity to praise her for all she has done for the UFC.
“I don’t know [if she will fight again], Ronda obviously needs to go home and take some time. She is very rich, she doesn’t need to fight any more. She is super competitive, maybe she wants to. We’ll see what happens,” said White.
“None of this would be here without Ronda Rousey. She talked me into letting women into the UFC and it was the smartest thing that I have ever done. So regardless of whether she comes back or doesn’t come back, she is a winner. She built this whole thing.”
Make of that what you will.
