If Ronda Rousey ever returns to MMA, it will instantly become one of the biggest spectacles in the sport – or at least it will be, depending on who you ask.
Chael Sonnen, Rousey's fellow UFC Hall of Famer, doesn't believe in the magnitude of Rousey's return to fighting, let alone the possibility of it happening. Recently former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. back to the gym to get back into MMA training. While there has been no word on an official return, Rousey has seemingly teased the possibility while simultaneously blaming the MMA community for the merciless attitude of fans towards her after losing the title.
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Speaking in studio on Monday's episode “The Ariel Helwani Show.” Sonnen further deepened his disbelief that Rousey's return is in the offing.
“Ronda won’t fight, no,” Sonnen told Uncrowned. “First of all, Ronda’s contract was so beautiful and so much money that you had to main event her, and she wasn’t one of the best fighters in the world. When we called her the world champion, it was because we had no idea who should be where. [The UFC women's bantamweight division] was still being formulated.
“At the press conference she was declared world champion. She was given a belt. Not in vain, imagine how bad this story could have ended. If she had lost her first fight, she would have actually become a world champion who would never have won the fight, which, by the way, is what Tom Aspinall is now.”
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It's been almost a decade since 38-year-old Rousey last stepped into the Octagon. The Olympic medalist judoka transitioned to the world of professional wrestling after MMA and had a healthy five-year career with WWE from 2018 to 2023, winning virtually every women's title in the company.
Rousey first entered the UFC as part of the Strikeforce acquisition in 2011, winning and defending the Strikeforce bantamweight title with victories over former champions Miesha Tate and Sarah Kaufman. But after a meteoric start to her MMA career, Rousey's 12-fight unbeaten streak came to an end against Holly Holm in 2015 and then again against Amanda Nunes in 2016. After back-to-back losses – two of the worst performances of her career – Rousey walked away and never looked back until recently.
“When she retired she was still in the top seven or eight. [fighter] “She could still beat a lot of girls,” Sonnen said. “Which for most athletes would be a lifelong dream. But you're paying her so much money that you'll have to include her in the main events. The main events needed world title fights, and she couldn't compete with the top girls. She couldn't stay with them even for five minutes.
“So act like you're going to get her back 1762822774even in a fight no one notices this. And the UFC doesn’t have that history.”
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“I don’t want to hate on Ronda, I’m just trying to be a little more serious,” Sonnen added. “It's very important to the people who are telling this story that Ronda Rousey is the reason women's fighting is here and that she is the biggest star in the history of the sport. There's just nothing to back it up.
“She doesn’t have a sales record. She has no pay-per-view records; She's not even in the top 10. [McGregor] came and took them. She never had them. There is no truth to the story about the star Rhonda.”
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While Rousey doesn't actually rank in the top 10 in UFC pay-per-view buys, her last two fights rank 11th and 12th in promotion history, each generating approximately 1.1 million buys—still the highest total for a UFC pay-per-view headlined by a women's match. Additionally, during UFC 193, her fight against Holm set the UFC's all-time largest attendance record, drawing 56,214 spectators at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne and grossing $6.8 million.
Holm's loss should have set the stage for Rousey's epic comeback, but instead she disappeared from the public eye and went so far as to avoid all media mentions of her fight with Nunes, both before and after the fight. Rousey has since expressed her belief that MMA fans treated her poorly after Holm.
Sonnen, however, doesn't buy it.
“[Rousey and I] We're friends, but I still have a job to do, which is to tell the story as it happened,” Sonnen said. “You were the most likely person to contact Ellen [Degeneres'] sofa. We could really use you. The moment the light went out for you, you left us. You could still go to Ellen's couch and put in the next card.
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“I'm no longer a UFC fighter. I used to make millions of dollars, I used to be the most popular player, I had a lot of fun. I am no longer that person, but here I am telling you about [UFC 322]. I'm trying to contribute in my own way. You're not paying me to be here – I love this sport. Sports did something for me – I owe it, at least I feel it.
“She didn’t even come back and do a cameo. She didn't even come and sit in the front row. [of an event]. She had nothing to do with us and wonders why people say, “Good riddance to you.” You told us this.”
