The mixed martial arts (MMA) world is still reeling from the blockbuster — though not totally surprising — news that former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s Bantamweight roost ruler Ronda Rousey has signed a full-time contract with WWE.
Now, one of Rousey’s biggest rivals, Cris Cyborg — despite never fighting each other — has chimed in on the move, claiming “Rowdy” will be happy in her new professional wrestling venture because you can be a winner for as long as the company wants you to be.
“I believe that she will be happy in WWE, and it’s completely different from the reality of MMA,” Cyborg told MMA Fighting. “For an example, wins and losses are decided before the shows.”
During an interview with ESPN, Rousey stuck to form and refused to talk about her back-to-back losses inside that Octagon that sent her in another career direction. For Cyborg, there’s a good reason Rousey refuses to talk about them.
“I think it’s normal,” Cyborg said of Rousey not talking about her last UFC fights. “In reality, we can only talk about things that we already overcame in our minds. She hasn’t overcome her MMA losses yet, even in another stage of her career. Sometimes people need professional help to get over it,” added the current UFC women’s Featherweight title holder.
Cyborg, meanwhile, is far from done with her MMA career — though her time with UFC may be coming to en end — as she is currently in talks to defend her 145-pound strap against current 135-pound champion, Amanda Nunes.
“My focus is to fight someone in my division because I hope it grows,” Cyborg said, “but like I said, I’ve accepted to fight Amanda (at UFC 226 on July 7, 2018), if she wants that so much. Now my manager is negotiating the terms so this fight happens.”
As for a much-desired showdown with Rousey that never came to be, there is still a small glimmer of hope it could happen.