According to UFC President Dana White, not only is former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey able to eat apples again, she is also once again finally “ready to fight.”
White appeared on TMZ Live this weekend and spoke about the upcoming return of one of the biggest stars in the UFC. He claimed that Rousey will return to the Octagon in November or December and that the door is open for a potential third fight against Miesha Tate for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship.
Rousey last appeared inside the Octagon at the record-breaking UFC 193 pay-per-view event from Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on November 15, 2015, where she lost her first professional MMA fight in devastating fashion by being knocked out by a head kick from Holly Holm in the second round of their main event fight.
Holm would go on to lose the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship in her first title defense, a fight she pushed to have instead of waiting for Rousey to return for an immediate rematch of their historic first encounter.
Longtime career rival of Rousey, Miesha “Cupcake” Tate, choked Holm out in the co-main event of the UFC 196 pay-per-view in March to become the new UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
As noted, the belief is Rousey will return to challenge Tate for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship upon returning to the UFC, which as White noted, is expected to be in November or December of this year.
Whether or not Rousey’s return takes place at UFC’s debut event at Madison Square Garden in New York, which is also expected to take place near the end of the year, remains to be seen.