Ronda Rousey will be making a return to mixed martial arts after nearly a decade away. The former UFC champion revealed that the spark for her comeback ignited while she was nine months pregnant and watching an interview of fellow MMA pioneer Gina Carano.
“I saw a video of Gina Carano giving an interview and she didn’t look good,” Rousey explained during an appearance on SportsCenter. “She gained like an unhealthy amount of weight and my first thought was like, ‘Oh my god, what can I do? What can I do to help?'”
That initial concern quickly evolved into something deeper. Rousey recognized that Carano was the one woman in MMA who she felt indebted to, someone who paved the way for her own success.
Despite Carano’s wealthy background, with family ownership of Caesar’s Palace and Webull Oil, Rousey realized there was one thing she could offer.
“When I was in a similar spot when I was depressed and gave up in the world and inadvertently gave up on myself, what I needed was a goal and something to reignite my passion again,” Rousey said.
She continued: “I always said that Gina is the one person I’d come back to fight for. And I thought, you know what, she needs this. She needs this match. And the more that I thought about it, I was like, you know what? I need this. I really need this match.”
Rousey initially approached UFC CEO Dana White about the matchup, but when those negotiations fell through, both MMA stars refused to let the opportunity slip away. The two pioneers worked together to overcome numerous obstacles, with Rousey even offering to train Carano herself if necessary to make the match happen.
At 39 years old, Rousey has adjusted her training approach significantly. Recovery now takes priority, with single marathon training sessions replacing multiple daily workouts.
“I might not have as much collagen or cartilage as I have in the past, but I have more knowledge than I ever have,” she noted. “It’s my technique and my craftiness inside the cage that always set me apart.”
