Hypothesis has run rampant that UFC Corridor of Famer Ronda Rousey may very well be making ready for a comeback.
The previous girls’s bantamweight champion has revealed that she’s been coaching, indicating a renewed love for fight sports activities.
Former UFC competitor-turned-analyst Diana Belbita shared her ideas on Rousey probably returning to the octagon after eight years. The game has developed considerably, particularly the ladies’s divisions, so it could be troublesome for ‘Rowdy’ to recapture her previous glory.
Rousey final fought Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in 2016. Nunes made fast work of ‘Rowdy,’ incomes a dominant first-round TKO to retain her girls’s bantamweight championship.
In an unique dialog with Sportsboom, Belbita broke down why Rousey may really feel the need to return and why she believes it will be a nasty concept.
Belbita admitted that Rousey’s hiatus would make securing a win over present contenders a really troublesome activity.
“No, I don’t assume [Rousey’s] going to come back again and he or she might be dumb if she comes again,” Diana Belbita instructed SportsBoom.com.
MMA Continues to Evolve
It’s pure for athletes to evolve, particularly in fight sports activities. As fighters grow old, age catches up with them, and they’re now not the dominant drive they as soon as had been.
Many fighters wrestle to remain aggressive with the youthful technology and make the powerful resolution to retire. Rousey is not any completely different.
‘Rowdy’s greatest weapon was her unbelievable judo background.
She would usually dominate opponents by taking them down and submitting them with an armbar.
“MMA evolves a lot that fighters who had been champions 10 years in the past, they will’t be champions proper now,” Belbita stated.
“They’ll most likely not even be near the highest 10 proper now trigger MMA is the game that evolves each single 12 months.”
“Even when proper now her, [Rousey] can most likely make 125 kilos, go right down to flyweight. However let’s discuss bantamweight. She is not going to beat Norma Dumont. I don’t even assume she would beat Yana Santos. I don’t even assume she would beat Macy Chaisson to be trustworthy,” she defined.
“The extent is so completely different. What was years in the past and what it’s now, I don’t assume it’s okay for her to come back again. And I don’t assume she’s going to come back again.”
If Rousey had been to return to the UFC, she would probably be matched up with an opponent that has an identical preventing model or is shut in age.
Would A UFC Comeback Tarnish Rousey’s Legacy?
Rousey’s legacy in fight sports activities is one thing she values deeply, which raises a query of whether or not a UFC comeback may tarnish it.
After a powerful profitable streak, Rousey suffered her first profession loss in devastating trend. On the time, many believed that she had been uncovered towards Holly Holm.
Rousey returned in an try and reclaim the ladies’s bantamweight champion, however Nunes made fast work of her. If she returns in 2026 and suffers one more loss, her legacy may lose a few of its weight.
Just lately, Rousey expressed frustration with the MMA group for dismissing a fighter’s abilities and accomplishments after a loss.
Belbita echoed these sentiments and stated that one other defeat may intensify the ridicule directed on the former champion.
“You know the way MMA followers are, ‘Oh, you’re good,’ and then you definitely lose one they usually’re like, ‘Oh, let’s have that dialog. She was by no means that good. And that’s precisely the way it’s going to go,” Belbita stated.
“Additionally, she misplaced to Amanda Nunes, the GOAT. So, she can’t be judged too harsh about that.”
Nonetheless, Belbita emphasised that she feels Rousey will tarnish her legacy if she returns to the octagon.
“Now coming again, I actually assume she would spoil her legacy. Individuals will go, ‘She was by no means that good,’ She was actually good at the moment, however the time modified. The extent of MMA modified.”
“I don’t assume she ought to come again,” Belbita concluded.
