If You Can’t Win In The UFC Join The WWE

29 Jan, 2018

Mixed martial arts icon Ronda Rousey revealed on Sunday that she has signed a contract to become a full-time member of World Wrestling Entertainment.

USA TODAY Sports reported on Dec. 6 that a switch to the WWE was imminent for Rousey, who last fought in the octagon in December 2016, in a defeat to Amanda Nunes. So it transpired, with the 30-year-old making an appearance at Royal Rumble in Philadelphia, one of WWE’s flagship events.

“This is my life now,” Rousey told ESPN on Sunday, dismissing suggestions that she would make only sporadic appearances in the ring. “They have first priority on my timeline for the next several years and this is not a smash-and-grab. This is not a publicity stunt.

“There are other things I can do with my time that’ll make way more money, but I won’t enjoy nearly as much. The only thing that money gets you is the freedom to choose how you spend your time and who you spend you spend your time with. I don’t want to be constantly stuck trying to make money for the sake of making money.”

Rousey has been a fan of wrestling since childhood, when she used to play with a Hulk Hogan figurine and was a supporter of Rowdy Roddy Piper, from whom she borrowed her “Rowdy Ronda” nickname.

The switch would seem to be a perfect fit. Rousey put women’s MMA on the map by becoming the UFC’s first belt holder in its bantamweight division and storming to a series of arm bar victories.

That made her a crossover star, with appearances in movies and Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition, before her unbeaten record was ended by Holly Holm in Australia in November 2015.

Rousey, who won an Olympic judo bronze medal in 2008, refused to specify whether she had formally retired from the UFC.

“That’s what everyone else seems to say,” Rousey added. “I never fully retired from judo. I just want to devote 100% of my time to wrestling right now.”

USA Today

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