Ronda Rousey is doing the unthinkable: she is returning to mixed martial arts.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion would take on Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood. The five-round featherweight bout will be organized by Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions and air on Netflix.
The matchup has been teased multiple times for over a decade now, but this feels more like a desperate cash grab than a career resurrection.
To understand how Rousey got here, it helps to revisit her earlier MMA career.
Upon entering the sport, the former Olympic bronze medalist judoka had one of its most dramatic ascensions: six straight armbars in as many fights. Along the way, she collected the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship and notched one successful defense of it.
“Rowdy” was so ubiquitous that not even UFC president Dana White, who had once infamously vowed that women would never fight in the Octagon, could resist bringing her in. That moment happened in November 2012, when she became the first woman to sign with the promotion. Three months later, she defeated Liz Carmouche by her tried-and-tested armbar in the first women’s main event in UFC history.
From there, Rousey became a superstar the likes of which the UFC had never seen. When she was not destroying her opponents in quick and dominant fashion, she was cameoing in movies, giving interviews, gracing magazine covers, and promoting products. She even appeared at WrestleMania 31, backing up Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Unfortunately, everything has an end, and it came violently to Rousey in November 2015. In front of a then-record 56,000+ people in Melbourne, Holly Holm knocked her out with a head kick to end her reign. While many more closely attribute it to the clash in styles and game planning, it was considered one of MMA’s biggest upsets ever when it happened.
After that, Rousey entered a hiatus. She would not return until late in December 2016, when she challenged Amanda Nunes. Unfortunately, it went extremely poorly – after all the hype around her comeback, she was destroyed in 48 seconds. Just like that, what was once MMA’s brightest star had become a laughingstock.
Understandably, Rousey quietly retired from MMA, instead joining WWE. She would have two stints, each of which saw her claim championships. When she was not wrestling, she would mainly focus on raising her family with Travis Browne.
Last September, however, something surprising happened: footage emerged of Rousey doing striking drills. Even more conspicuously, the following month, she announced that she was done with professional wrestling. Suddenly, people were asking themselves, “Is a comeback really happening?” – a question that has been affirmatively answered nearly five months later.
This leads back to now.
Why is Rousey even doing this? Perhaps the allure of one last massive payday is too much for her, especially as she is currently largely directionless in life. Perhaps she wants to fulfill fans’ long-standing desire of a dream matchup with another pioneer like Carano.
Whatever the reason, however, this is a bad idea. Carano may be older and on a longer absence from MMA than Rousey, but she showed a more diverse skillset in her brief career. While she had four finishes, she also showed resilience and intelligence with decision wins – which people often decry as “boring” but proves maturity and readiness better than finishes.
Against that, what avenues to victory does Rousey have? Carano can just keep her at bay with strikes to prevent the judo clinch and trip, while “Rowdy” has been proven to be hilariously bad on the feet. Even if Rousey gets the fight to the ground, Carano has proven competent enough to avoid being overwhelmed and fight for better position.
On the off chance that Rousey wins, what is next for her? The UFC, even with the current decrepitude of its women’s bantamweight division, is very unlikely to take her back. Cris Cyborg represents the last big name she has not fought yet, but given how Rousey’s last two fights transpired, fighting a heavy-handed striker could spell disaster.
Rousey is called a trailblazer in MMA, and not without good reason. She is the primary reason why many women decided to take up MMA despite the hardships and dangers that it brings. Without her, women’s MMA as we know it would not exist.
At the same time, however, this upcoming fight against Carano represents a significant risk that may only harm Rousey’s health and reputation further. Perhaps she might be better served focusing on business and family and restricting herself to shadow boxing as she enters her 40s…
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