Ronda Rousey Still Not Retired, but Dana White Doesn't Want to See Her Return
Ronda Rousey has never made an official decision regarding her retirement from mixed martial arts, but if UFC president Dana White has his way, she's already fought for the last time.
Rousey last fought at UFC 207 in December 2016 when she was dispatched in quick fashion by current women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. That fight came just over a year after Rousey suffered a brutal knockout loss to Holly Holm, which cost her the title and put the first loss on her professional fighting record.
Since that time, Rousey has gone radio silent without doing any media talking about her last two performances or giving any indication whether or not she planned to fight again.
The only time Rousey has been in the spotlight in recent months was celebrating her recent wedding to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne and promoting appearances on NBC's “Blindspot” as well as her coaching role on “Battle of the Network Stars” on ABC.
By all accounts, Rousey doesn’t plan to return for another fight in the UFC and her boss would like to keep it that way.
“I wouldn't want to see it,” White said on Tuesday when asked if he wanted Rousey to fight again. “I don't want it to happen. I care about her and she's got enough money and all that stuff. I don't want to see it happen.”
White said that Rousey is definitely enjoying life right now outside the cage, which is something she never really got to do before thanks to an athletic career that started when she was a kid, continued through her run as a judoka in the Olympics, and then transitioned to her superstar status as a fighter in the UFC.
“She's good. She's happy. She's happy doing her thing,” White said. “If you look at Ronda Rousey, where she is now in her life, she accomplished everything she ever wanted to accomplish and now she wants to have a life, like a personal life. Enjoy all the hard work she put in. She's been working since she was a kid.
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“She's achieved everything she wanted to do, she made a (expletive) load of money and now she wants to actually have a life.”
Still, Rousey hasn't officially called it a career and White can't be sure why she's not ready to announce her retirement already.
“She has not retired. USADA is still popping up at her house testing her,” White said about Rousey. “She refuses to retire. She's not ready to say ‘I quit.' She's not ready to say, ‘I'm done,' for whatever reason. She doesn't tick like everybody else ticks. We found that out over the years.”
