Ronda Rousey is done with mixed martial arts, but there’s one fighter that could pull her out of retirement.
Rousey hasn’t competed in MMA since her title-fight loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016, but is flourishing in the professional wrestling world.
One fight that Rousey always wanted but didn’t materialize throughout her UFC career is Gina Carano, who says Dana White is the reason their planned fight fell through.
“There’s only one person … there’s only one person I would come back for,” Rousey said on the Kurt Angle Show. “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. She’s the reason why I got into fighting. She’s the reason why I knew it was a possibility. I will always be forever grateful. If she ever was like, ‘Ronda, I want to fight you tomorrow at 205 pounds’ – like, whatever the hell she’d want. I’m not saying she’s 205 pounds; she’s very svelte.
“If she wanted to come into my backyard and do the ‘Rocky’ thing, you know, ‘Ding-ding,’ and we just do it in the backyard, I don’t care. I will fight Gina wherever she wants. And if she doesn’t want to, forever, I will leave that offer there. It’s a respect thing, not like a, ‘F*ck you, I’m coming to get you.’ It’s just like, ‘Hey, if you ever want to pull that card out, it’s there.’ I love her. Thank you, Gina, for everything you’ve done.”
According to Carano, the UFC offered her $1 million to fight then-undefeated bantamweight champion Rousey, but felt pressured when White told media she was being signed before having a chance to build a six-month camp. That and a text White sent her by mistake proved to be the nail in the coffin.
Rousey is the current WWE SmackDown women’s champion. She was inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2018.
