Ronda Rousey hasn’t made any declaration about returning for another fight, but her recent social media post where she admitted she was finding her love for MMA again definitely got that conversation started.
After last appearing in the UFC all the way back in 2016, Rousey has started a family with husband Travis Browne following a few years spent in professional wrestling in WWE. The former women’s bantamweight champion also became a successful author and she even penned a script for her life story to be adapted into a feature film.
But because retired fighters so routinely make comebacks, Rousey dropping a “never say never” when addressing a potential return raised the question about whether or not she might actually attempt to compete again? UFC legend Matt Brown definitely disagrees with that idea.
“We know everyone would get behind bringing Ronda Rousey back,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “As big of a star as she was, yeah, f*ck yeah everybody would be all about it. Whether they love her or hate her, we’ll watch 100 percent.
“[But] I would say the same thing with Conor [McGregor] … you cannot take that time off and expect to come back at a high level. Everybody else is working everyday. This isn’t 1998 anymore where you can just kind of be a fighter in training camp and then chill and then come back. We’re not even talking about that. We’re talking about years off. She’ll get destroyed.”
It’s been over a decade since Rousey last won a fight and her last two performances both ended in devastating fashion following knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
While promoting her autobiography, Rousey also revealed that a huge part of her decision to walk away from fighting happened after she suffered multiple concussions during her combat sports career dating back to competing in judo matches all across the globe.
That all seems to add up to a litany of reasons Rousey should never fight again but Brown doesn’t doubt for a second that the UFC would pounce on that opportunity for her to return. Still, Rousey’s incredibly long layoff, injury history and her overall age where she’s about to turn 39 years old leave Brown confused why anyone would want to see it.
“Maybe they’ll find a matchup for her, like a Bethe Correia type or something,” Brown said. “There’s still those girls out there in those divisions unfortunately. But no, you can’t take that kind of time off. There’s a point where you’ve just got to say I’m done. I’ve spent enough time away from the sport that coming back is not going to be a good option for me anymore and Ronda’s past that point for sure. She’s got to know it, too.
“The only question with her is just her ego. She really thinks she’s the greatest fighter ever and she can probably take this time off and come back but it doesn’t work that way. It just doesn’t. You take a certain amount of time off, it’s over. Everybody else is training everyday. You’re going to get smashed in there.”
Considering the star power that followed Rousey at the peak of her career, there’s little doubt that a comeback would get a lot of attention.
But Brown’s just not interested, especially at this stage of her life and career.
“I wasn’t interested in watching her when she was fighting in her prime,” Brown said. “So a comeback doesn’t interest me personally. Take that for what it is. Make up your own mind on it.”