It looks like we have seen the last of Ronda Rousey in MMA as UFC President Dana White said he thinks Rousey is done. Rousey dominated women’s MMA winning her first 12 fights and she put women’s MMA on the map but her run ended late in 2015 as she was beaten by Holly Holm at UFC 193 and after taking more than a year off, Rousey was crushed by Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December of 2016. Now it appears Rousey is done fighting.
Bet on UFC at BookMaker.eu
Rousey Likely Done
After losing to Nunes at UFC 207, Rousey said she needed some time to consider her future. According to White, that future is not going to include MMA action. "In the conversation I had with her, if I had to say right here right now -- again I don't like saying right here right now because it's up to her -- but I wouldn't say she fights again," White said. "I think she's probably done. She's going to ride off into the sunset and start living her life outside of fighting."
Rousey was really done after losing to Holm late in 2015 because being undefeated was everything to Rousey. Once she lost, everything changed. "She's so competitive that, her career and record meant everything to her," White said. "And then once she lost, she started to say to herself, 'What the (expletive) am I doing? This is my whole life. This is it? I want to experience and start doing other things.' And I think that's what she started to do, and she's got a lot of money. She's never going to need money again."
White said that Rousey changed the UFC and he hopes that current and future UFC women’s fighters can continue what Rousey started. "She changed the world," White said. "She put female fighting on the map. She's been part of the biggest fights in the history of women fighting and I hope those records can be broken. I don't know if they can, but I hope they can."
One of the upcoming stars on the women’s side is Valentina Shevchenko who recently defeated Julianna Pena at UFC on FOX 23 in Denver. It has become obvious that women headlining a UFC card can work. The telecast on FOX drew more than 2 million viewers. Shevchenko should be in line for a future title shot against Nunes in what will likely headline another UFC card.
The card in Sacramento on FOX in December which featured Michelle Waterson and Paige VanZant was the most-watched UFC event on FOX since 2013. When Shevchenko fought Holm in July in Chicago the event drew nearly 3 million viewers on FOX, the ninth-best UFC broadcast on FOX.
We won’t have to wait long to see the next main event which features women’s fighters as UFC 208 takes place on February 11 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It will be the first UFC event ever held in Brooklyn and the fourth event held in New York. The event features Holly Holm taking on Germaine de Randamie for the first-ever UFC women’s featherweight title. Holm will have a chance to become the first female to win multiple divisions in UFC history. Holm is actually the underdog as de Randamie is listed as the -122 favorite at BookMaker.eu.
Conor McGregor Defends Rousey
One person who thinks that Rousey is getting too much criticism is UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor. He said that he completely supports Rousey. "I love Ronda. I've always supported Ronda, and then when she loses that second one people are trying to make me celebrate like, 'Now they've got nobody.' That's the wrong mindset. I don't celebrate another person's defeat like that. That's weak. That's a weak individual that does that."
McGregor said that he also would not be one to criticize the way Rousey has handled things. "She handled it one way, but I don't think what way she handled it was incorrect," McGregor said.
How to Bet
Access live betting lines from yourmobile deviceat BookMaker sportsbook! Real-time spreads, totals, props and money line are all available so start betting withBookMakertoday.
