Ronda Rousey Refuses To Attend UFC Fights – ‘I’d Be Booed’
Ronda Rousey says she would be booed if she returned to the UFC.
Rousey became one of the faces of the UFC. She became the UFC Bantamweight Champion, setting the record for the most successful title defences at six. While Valentina Shevchenko has now surpassed that record, Rousey made plenty of other headlining feats. Her 14-second victory against Cat Zingano became the fastest championship fight ever. Meanwhile, eight of 12 victories came by an armbar submission.
But her career ended on a poor note. Rousey suffered two consecutive stoppage losses against Holly Holm (UFC 193 in 2015) and Amanda Nunes (UFC 207 in 2016). Rousey has since then stated that she had a history of concussions, which may have had an impact on the outcome of those results. She also hit the media for turning against her following those losses. She was clear that any UFC return would not go down well.
Rousey Reacts
“Ask the MMA media (why what I gave wasn’t enough) – they’re the ones saying it … that I was a fraud and I was hype and I was exposed and I was never anything and just lucky and all of these things, that I was ungracious or I was a loser, or every other thing that I just assume at this point because I don’t take the time to read it.
“Everything that could be said that was negative was said, and I feel really vilified by MMA media at this point and not really welcome back, which is why I haven’t gone to a UFC fight since (I left). I’m pretty sure if I walked into the arena, I’d be booed. That’s how it feels,” Rousey said
The biggest turning point was her loss to Holly Holm. Until then, Rousey was seen as one of the greatest UFC female fighters. Rosuey’s impact was so huge that it inspired Dana White to invest more in female UFC fighters. But the Holm losses were followed by the Nunez defeat, as Rousey left the UFC.
She would later sign with WWE in 2018. While she would dip out of the wrestling world, she was released last year. There were rumors she could return at UFC 300. White dismissed those suggestions altogether. Looking back at her career, the Holm loss was the most difficult.
Rousey On Holm
“I cared about that title more than anybody ever has. It hurt me more than anybody that’s ever been hurt by losing it. That’s why I was able to defend so much for so long.” It’s hard for a lot of people to understand, to have something mean that much to you. It’s like, ‘Why are you so upset?
“It’s just a fight.’ Well, it’s just somebody else’s fight to you, but I think one thing that’s really important if you’re going to be a fighter at an extremely high level, or an athlete, or someone who runs a business, or anything like that, you have to be willing to get your heart broken in order to put every fiber of your being into something.
“You’re going to know whether everything you have is good enough. I think that a lot of people have this tendency to preserve themselves and not put everything out there, and when it doesn’t work out, you’re like, ‘Well, it wasn’t everything I had, I could have done it if I gave it everything I had,” Rousey added
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