Ronda Rousey, the previous UFC bantamweight champion, has quietly returned to combined martial arts coaching lower than a 12 months after giving beginning, fueling hypothesis a couple of potential return to the Octagon.
Is Ronda Rousey Making a UFC Comeback?
In an Instagram put up this week, Rousey shared two video clips from her classes with coach AJ MMA. The primary clip confirmed her tentative return eight weeks postpartum, eight years after stepping away from MMA. The second clip, filmed this week at eight months postpartum, captured Rousey laughing and smiling on the mat. She wrote,
“The primary clip is my first session working with [@aj_mma] I used to be tremendous self aware, embarrassed of how a lot I regressed, and actually attempting my perfect to not pee my pants throwing punches so quickly after having child Pā’ū. Second clip was yesterday, I’ve by no means laughed or smiled a lot on the mat as I do today. The final 6 months have been an absolute blast, looks like I’ve a lot left to develop, and with out the load of the world on my shoulders nothing is holding me again. ‘What we be taught with pleasure we always remember’ Alfred Mercier.”
Ronda Rousey’s MMA profession started in 2011, when she debuted in Strikeforce and shortly amassed a collection of first-round armbar victories. She moved to the UFC roster in 2012 because the group launched its ladies’s bantamweight division, turning into the inaugural titleholder by submitting Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. Rousey defended her belt six instances, defeating Sara McMann, Alexis Davis, and Cat Zingano earlier than rematching Miesha Tate at UFC 168, the place she gained by armbar within the third spherical.
Following a historic reign, Rousey suffered her first skilled defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015, dropping by head-kick knockout. She tried a comeback in December 2016 however was stopped by Amanda Nunes within the first spherical at UFC 207. After that loss, Rousey stepped away from lively competitors.
In January 2018, Rousey signed with WWE, the place she shortly turned a marquee attraction. She made her Royal Rumble debut in January 2018 and captured the Uncooked Girls’s Championship later that 12 months. Her WWE tenure included headlining Evolution in 2018, the primary all-women’s pay-per-view in WWE historical past, and sustained her standing as a crossover star, showing on speak exhibits and in movie roles.
Life took one other flip in mid-2024 when Rousey introduced her being pregnant. She gave beginning to daughter Pā’ū in early 2025 and took time away from the highlight. Her current social media replace paperwork the development from tentative first exercises to a renewed pleasure on the mats. Coaching beneath AJ MMA, Rousey has targeted on rebuilding her placing, footwork, and conditioning whereas rediscovering the weather of the game that first ignited her ardour.
Rousey’s post-pregnancy return coincides with talks of reviving the UFC ladies’s bantamweight division’s competitiveness. A number of former champions and rising contenders now populate the 135-pound class. A comeback by Rousey would reshape the division’s panorama, drawing international consideration and creating recent matchups.
Whether or not Rousey intends to pursue a proper return to the UFC stays unconfirmed. UFC president Dana White has hinted at curiosity in having her again, however no official bout bulletins have been made. For now, Rousey’s followers can watch her progress by way of her social media updates as she navigates coaching, motherhood, and the opportunity of reclaiming her spot atop the game.
