Ronda Rousey Is Back - And I Don't Care

By Muk

If 15 months ago you would have asked me my opinion on Ronda Rousey, I would have told you that she is the greatest female MMA fighter ever and the biggest star in the sport. But 1 embarrassing loss, and 11 long months later, that has all changed. 

It was announced a few hours ago that Ronda Rousey would return from her hiatus and fight Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, December 30th for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight belt. Do I agree with this fight? ABSOLUTELY not. 

In Ronda Rousey’s last fight, she was exposed, demoralized, and broken. Holly Holm shocked the world in a way unlike almost anything we have ever seen, and for that second when Holly kicked Ronda in the head and Ronda dropped to the floor, the earth stood still. The seemingly “unbeatable” Ronda, had been embarrassed in front of the entire world.

MMA is unlike every sport in the world, because although it is in no way an only individual sport, because of how important your coaches, teammates and training partners are, the highs of MMA seem to be celebrated by all, the lows seem to be felt only by the fighter themselves. Ronda Rousey had never lost in anything in her life before Holly Holm. She was 3-0 in her amateur career, and 12-0 in her professional up until that fight. She has Olympic and World Championship medals in Judo, and has never for once doubted she was the greatest. Until Holly hit her so hard she couldn’t see straight. 

They say that your character is determined by how you handle adversity. We saw Conor McGregor get choked out by Nate Diaz this March, and handle the loss in every such way that a true champion should. He made no excuses. He did not hide. He accepted his defeat and vowed that he would return better. Five months later he had his hand raised in victory and successfully avenged his only UFC loss. Ronda Rousey quit on the fight game when she lost, and turned her back on the sport. One loss does not define your career in MMA; its MMA, you’re not supposed to go undefeated forever. But to me, how you handle that 1 loss, or your 10th, 11th, 12th loss, is what makes you a true champion. 

In my opinion Ronda Rousey does not deserve this title shot. I feel she should 
​1). have to face Holly once again, and subsequently defeat her, to fight for the belt
2). Cyborg has truly gone out of her way to do anything and everything possible to get inside Ronda’s head, and get Ronda to fight her… Cyborg has said multiple times, “I have seen Ronda shadow box, and the shadow wins”, calling her out on social media at least once a week to remind the world that Ronda is not the greatest female fighter in MMA today let alone all-time, and until she gets into the Octagon with Cyborg - not necessarily even having to beat her - Ronda cannot and will not have my utmost respect. 

As one of the biggest faces in the sport, it is funny to see just how well the UFC did in 2016 without her help. The rumors from Dana saying that Ronda will fight Cyborg next to me is bullshit. They have tried to get Ronda to fight Cyborg for years now, and unless Ronda comes out and finishes Amanda in 10 seconds and looks to be once again one of the most feared fighters in female MMA, I don’t think Ronda will ever take that fight. 

Mark my words, if Ronda loses to Amanda Nunes, who is a damn good striker and all around fighter, we will never again see Ronda Rousey’s face in the Octagon. 
But I hope Ronda proves me wrong, and I hope that she can climb back to the top and continue to dominate and promote MMA like she once did, but until then, my respect for Ronda outside of her obvious skill level is minimal.