Ronda Rousey is undoubtedly one of the biggest names to successfully cross over from UFC to WWE. The 36-year-old star has won championships in both promotions. Fans might wonder if the Baddest Woman on the Planet will ever return to her former promotion.
Ronda Rousey is unlikely to return to UFC. She retired from mixed martial arts after her loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016. Watch the bout below:
The former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion did say she’d consider an MMA return to fight a fellow former Strikeforce star. The person in question is Gina Carano.
"There's only one person … there's only one person I would come back for," Rousey said on an episode of The Kurt Angle Show in 2022. "I mean, I've said it a million times. It's not like it's something new. [I'd come back] for Gina, man—Gina Carano."
The two women were heavily rumored to fight each other at one point, but the plans never materialized because of Carano’s refusal. The MMA fighter-turned-Hollywood star told Joe Rogan during an interview that she refused to fight Ronda Rousey due to feeling disrespected by UFC President Dana White.
"He (Dana White) said something pretty aggressive over text messages, I'm sure you (Joe Rogan) know he does that and I was just like, 'Yeah, okay I'm not gonna do that.' It was very simple for me like, that was gonna be something for me and I was excited to be back in that world and I was excited to do something like that, I respect Ronda and I thought that it was exciting."
Ronda Rousey recently achieved another accolade in WWE
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler were the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions when they squared off against NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn in a match to unite the titles.
The two teams put their respective titles on the line this past Friday on SmackDown. The Baddest Woman on the Planet and the Queen of Spades were victorious in the match.
They are expected to be awarded new belts in the future. The champions will put their titles on the line against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez at Money in the Bank 2023 on July 1.