UFC fighter Ronda Rousey has recently been vocal about her discomfort in returning to the UFC. The UFC Hall of Famer was one of the best female fighters to step into the octagon. After years in the cage, Rousey transitioned to WWE, where she experienced multiple successes before leaving to chase other opportunities.
Since then, she has written and promoted her autobiography, which has earned her some money. The fighter had hopes of returning to MMA but has doubts about how fans will treat her. Rousey believes she has been ‘vilified’ by the media and called a fraud after her last two losses. The bantamweight fighter is quite hesitant about returning to the octagon but has stated she might return to a UFC show under certain conditions.
“It’s just one of those things,” Rousey told CBS Sports. “I don’t want to go to a stadium full of people for fun. I’d rather be out on my farm or the beach or something else like that. I think I’d just have to have a reason to go. If my kids end up fighting or something like that, or someone that I ended up coaching ends up fighting. I would go. It’s not really my scene anymore.
“When I was younger, I wanted to put on a hot dress and go to the fights and hangout with everybody and now I’m kind of just like an old lady that wants to sit home and sip tea. Plus, I wouldn’t want to go just to be like ‘I wonder how people are going to react to me.’ I would want to have a reason to go or something.”
Since retirement, Rousey has mainly focused on spending time with her kids and her husband, former UFC fighter Travis Browne. The fighter practices martial arts in her free time and intends to teach her kids the art of self-defense.
“If they wanted to [fight, I would do everything that I could to make sure they’re as great as possible, but I would never push them towards it.” She said. “You can’t make somebody fight. It’s something that’s inside of you that you can’t help.
“I’ll make sure they know how to fight because it’s a survival skill, and I think it builds a lot of discipline. It’d be very character developing and all of that. Whether or not they want to compete, it’s up to them.
“I would want to have a reason to go or something. We’ll see. I’ll play it by ear,” Rousey added. “If my kids want to fight, they would end up being like absolutely incredible.
“That’s kind of how my mom got dragged back into judo and stuff like that. She quit judo and never went to a tournament again. Then, I got into it, and she was very much involved in it again. If my kids, or the kids from my dojo end up getting into it then I would have a reason.”
