Inaugural bantamweight champion, tturned WWE superstar, Ronda Rousey – has been linked with a potential comeback to professional mixed martial arts competition, and furthermore, the UFC, off the back of former-foe, Amanda Nunes’ retirement. And according to UFC play-by-play lead, Jon Anik, out of all the fighters to snap a retirement for an immediate title shot, Rousey is likely worthy.
Rousey, who boasts a 12-2 mixed martial arts record, most recently featured atop a UFC 207 pay-per-view event back in December 2018 against the aforenoted former two-division champion, Nunes – suffering a staggering 48-second TKO defeat to the Brazilian in an unsuccessful quest to reclaim bantamweight spoils.
In her sole other professional defeat, Rousey suffered a catastrophic second round high-kick KO loss to common-foe, Holly Holm in her UFC 193 title defense in Australia – seeing her undefeated run as undisputed bantamweight champion come to a crashing halt.
However, since switching to professional wrestling in a highly-successful tenure with the WWE, Ronda Rousey has been linked to a return to combat sports and the UFC in particular – even more so after the retirement of Nunes following her bantamweight title defense at UFC 289 earlier this month.
Ronda Rousey has been linked with a potential UFC return
And according to UFC favorite, Anik, Rousey would likely come as the sole former champion returning to a title shot which would be worthy of that opportunity, however, fellow fighters and those in the sport would largely question the meritocracy of the title fight.
“In a true meritocracy, that’s not gonna sit well with me nor the athletes that have been donating blood, sweat, and tears to mixed martial arts over the last several years,” Jon Anik told MMA Fighting. “If anyone is worthy of that opportunity, it’s probably Ronda Rousey, and I do believe that she would be competitive. She wouldn’t enter that setting without the guarantee that she would be competitive.”
“But, I didn’t like that Henry Cejudo came back and cut the line of a bunch of 35ers that have been active,” Anik explained. “So it would be hypocritical of me to say ‘Absolutely’ – but if there were ever a time, it would be absolutely now.” (Transcribed by MMA News)
12-0 before her title loss to Holm, Rousey, who defended the undisputed bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche back in 2013, before racking up subsequent successful title defenses over Miesha Tate, Sara McMann, Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, and Bethe Correia.
Prior to landing in the UFC, Ronda Rousey defeated the likes of Sarah Kaufman, the aforenoted, Tate, Julia Budd, and Charmaine Tweet.