Ronda Rousey: I’ll retire if I lose rematch against Holly Holm
When Ronda Rousey is ready to return to competition, Dana White has already said that she will get a rematch against new UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. And if Holm gets the best of Rousey again, that could be the last we see of arguably the most recognizable fighter in MMA history.
In a lengthy feature for ESPN the Magazine, Rousey told Ramona Shelburne that she will give up fighting if she loses to Holm again.
“I guess it’s all going to be determined by what happens in the rematch,” she said. “Everything is going to be determined by that. Either I’ll win and keep going or I won’t and I’ll be done with everything.”
While it’s shocking to imagine the possibility of Rousey only fighting one more time, it makes sense. Rousey has already launched her acting career and has expressed interest in doing that full-time when she gives up fighting. She’s not going to hang around the UFC and collect paychecks in non-title fights when she can make more money in Hollywood.
Rousey also opened up to Shelburne about how depressed she was in the days following the fight. She said she went to Texas with her boyfriend Travis Browne and completely alienated the outside world.
“I kind of just slept a lot and ate fast food,” Rousey explained. “First I was so sick I couldn’t eat anything. Then I just slept and pooped in the woods. I used a whole roll of toilet paper in one day.”
As we described previously, Rousey also got into how physically mangled she was after being knocked out by Holm.
Even if Rousey does recapture her title, her career has probably been shortened by the loss. There’s only so many times she would want to defend a title now that she is no longer undefeated.
