Is Ronda Rousey Mentally Ready for UFC Return?
Several questions were answered with Wednesday's announcement that Ronda Rousey would return at UFC 207 on Dec. 30 to challenge women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. It also left one big one unanswered.
Rousey hasn't fought in nearly a year, having lost the belt to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November of 2015. That shocked a lot of people, and it certainly upset Rousey, who even muttered words about suicide following the defeat.
Having taken so much time off, many people wondered if Rousey would ever return. With the fight against Nunes scheduled, the question shifts slightly to whether or not she is prepared to return. Is she mentally in a good space to get back in the Octagon?
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According to UFC president Dana White, she is. Having become the biggest star mixed martial arts had ever seen, particularly outside of the Octagon, White said that Rousey just needed some time to rest and regroup.
“Everybody wins or loses; it happens. I don't think anybody saw that coming, Ronda losing anytime soon, which is what made it so shocking when it happened,” White said on a recent edition of The Herd on FS1.
“100-percent (Rousey is psychologically in a good place). It was never really about a psychological problem with Ronda. The thing with Ronda was she wanted time off. She said ‘I want to go away and I want to relax,'” he explained.
“This girl worked hard for us for three years, nonstop, fight after fight, promotion after promotion. In this sport, if you even hint to ‘I want to retire or I want time off,' you need to do it in this sport.
“You've got to be all-in in this sport. You've got to be a killer. You've got to want it. You've got to want to be a world champion.”
On Dec. 30, Ronda Rousey will get her opportunity to once again become a world champion.
