INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Ronda Rousey is finally at peace with her MMA career.
Rousey (13-2), one of the most successful fighters in the history of MMA, didn’t have a good relationship with the sport given how things played out in her departure from the UFC and what seemed certain to be her retirement. However, after 10 years away from MMA competition, Rousey made her return to the cage Saturday against Gina Carano in the main event of the inaugural MVP MMA card that streamed live on Netflix.
Like Rousey has done so many times before, she won the fight by armbar in just 17 seconds. It was a moment that she needed.
“It’s completely just changed my relationship with the sport,” Rousey said at the post-fight press conference. “I was just telling (my husband Travis Browne) afterward, like, I feel like a ghost was banished, and it’s just lifted a weight off me that I didn’t realize I was still carrying in a way. And yeah, it’s like this is exactly what I needed. And that was closure.”
Rousey was brutally knocked out by Holly Holm in 2015 after being undefeated and rising to mainstream stardom. Losing her UFC women’s bantamweight title in that fashion was not taken well by the Olympic judo gold medalist. She went into isolation from the media and never really addressed the defeat – even when she returned to get back her belt in late 2016 against Amanda Nunes. Her return had a weird buildup in which Rousey did little to no media, and the result made things even worse as she was quickly stopped by Nunes at UFC 207.
Rousey left MMA and began acting and working in WWE. She never officially retired and never kept a connection with the sport, at least not publicly, which soured her relationship with many MMA fans. With a win in hand, Rousey can now say goodbye.
Despite dominating Carano and looking good, the 39-year old would like to leave things at that. She wants to grow her family and has no plans to fight again.
“I thinking like two more babies, but, oh God, that’s the thing that sucks: I’m just so good at everything,” Rousey said. “It’s like there’s just – I feel like there’s just a point where you could always do more. I would totally kick ass at combat jujitsu, just saying. But no, no, no, no, no, I’m good, I’m good. I don’t think (I’m going to fight again).”
Rousey is happy with how things played out in her return, and it was precisely what she needed to be at peace with her MMA career. She’s proud she’s leaving the sport on a high note and not off back-to-back knockout losses.
“It was a really amazing feeling to have again,” Rousey said. “I was just trying to absorb it and take it in for once. I’m just – I’m so glad that I did this. But I’m also ready to move on and now without any doubts. Now I can move on and know that this is the right time, and I’m just so ready for what’s next.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ronda Rousey: Beating Gina Carano ‘closure’ I needed to leave MMA