Ronda Rousey says her upcoming fight with Gina Carano is supposed to be the end of her comeback, unless something happens in the bout that forces her to do it one more time.
Rousey is scheduled to face Carano on May 16, which will be her first fight in about ten years, and she addressed the possibility of fighting again during a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club run-up to her Gina Carano return. The former UFC bantamweight champion said she has already told her family this is the final one, but left one exception on the table.
“I’m done fighting after this,” Rousey said. “Unless something goes down in this match that it deserves a trilogy from me and Gina. But I promised my husband, I promised my sister, everybody that this is my last one. I want to have more kids, too.”
She has not competed since suffering knockout losses to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015 and Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016. Before that skid, Rousey became one of the biggest stars the sport had seen, defending the UFC women’s bantamweight title six times after arriving from Strikeforce as the promotion’s first women’s champion. Her resume includes wins over Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano, Sara McMann, Liz Carmouche, and Bethe Correia.
Ronda Rousey says family matters more than stretching this comeback
Rousey also explained why the standard comeback logic does not really fit her situation. She said chasing more money does not make sense if it pulls her away from the family life she already values more.
“We make money so we can spend our time how we want with who we want where we want. I already have that. If I’m going spending time away from my family to make more money that’s not going to change our situation at all, what are you doing? It’s just dragon sickness.
“Keep in mind what you’re doing these things for. I’m doing it for them. I don’t want to spend more time away from them trying to get more money that they don’t need.”
That explanation ties the comeback directly to her life with former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, her family, and her desire to have more children. It also matches the way she has lived since stepping away from MMA, splitting her time between pro wrestling, motherhood, and projects outside fighting.
She also made clear that respect for Carano will not soften anything once the fight starts.
“I mean I’m a two-time Olympian,” Rousey said. “I fought everywhere around the world, every person around the world. I have so much respect for just the Olympics itself and everyone putting everything that’s going on in the world aside and let’s just do something that we have in common. Let’s just compete and let’s just do a sport together.
“I have no problem with anybody from Turkmenistan, but I’m going to break that bitch’s f*cking arm if she bows across from me. That’s just what I was taught to do since I was a little kid. I’ve been breaking arms since I was 14 years old and a lot of these girls are my friends. That’s just part of being a combat sports athlete. That’s how we show our respect to each other. It’s a little bit dysfunctional, but it’s also a weirdly intimate relationship that you have with somebody that you are sharing this very primal moment.”
Watch the full conversation below:
If the fight ends without controversy, Rousey’s own words point to a short comeback with a hard stop. If it gets messy, then the idea of seeing Rousey and Carano run it back probably gets loud in a hurry.
