The question of “When will Ronda Rousey return?” keeps getting more and more complicated.
Speaking with Cari Champion on ESPN’s SportsCenter, UFC President Dana White discussed the former champ’s long-awaited return. Anyone who was hoping for a precise date, unfortunately, was left wanting.
“Ronda Rousey, I don’t know. I’m hoping we’re going to get Ronda back this year,” he said (h/t MMAFighting.com for the transcription). “She actually just had surgery yesterday on her knee. Nothing serious, just get in there, scope it and clean it out a little bit. She feels great. Her spirits are great. She’s been training.”
While getting a knee flushed out isn’t a major procedure, it’s the latest wrinkle in what has become MMA‘s biggest mystery. Rousey, of course, was last seen in the Octagon in November at UFC 193, where she lost to Holly Holm in devastating fashion. While it initially seemed all but certain that Rousey would return at UFC 200 to try to recapture the belt, the card instead features a title match between women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challenger Amanda Nunes.
Starting in March, the focus then turned to UFC 205, which is currently planned to be the promotion’s debut in New York. The odds of those plans coming to fruition became longer by the day until, once again, the company began looking elsewhere.
So what is the company’s line on Rousey’s return now? “If she fights, I’m hoping she fights in December. If not, then she would probably fight at the New Years show at the beginning of the year,” he said. As for who she will face? “If Miesha Tate’s still the champion, she’ll fight Miesha Tate. Whoever has the belt is who Ronda Rousey will fight.”
While that complete lack of certainty from White may be a bit alarming for Rousey fans, it is worth noting that she has been spotted training in recent months. Unfortunately, the only sure thing about her return right now is that she’s coming back when, and if, she feels like it.
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