Controversial Former WWE Champion Announces Shock Return To MMA
An ex-WWE Champion has shockingly announced their re-entry into the world of mixed martial arts.
Ronda Rousey made the jump to professional wrestling by leaving behind her highly successful and lucrative UFC career in 2018 when she appeared following the women’s Royal Rumble.
Rousey competed in her first wrestling match at WrestleMania 34, teaming up with fellow Olympian Kurt Angle, to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match.
During her multiple stints with the promotion, she became a 4-time champion, winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship twice, Raw Women’s Championship once, and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship once.
The 39-year-old is renowned for revolutionizing the position of women in combat sports, becoming the first-ever Women’s Bantamweight Champion in 2012.
She defended the title successfully six times. Her loss to Holly Holm in the next fight would prove to be the defining moment not just in her career, but in women’s MMA all over.
After staying away for over a year, she returned to UFC and challenged the then-champion Amanda Nunes, losing via TKO early in round one.
Ex-WWE Star Ronda Rousey To Fight Gina Carano In May
On multiple occasions, Ronda Rousey has stated that she has retired from professional wrestling, even bashing WWE and Vince McMahon in the process.
During her time away, she became a mother to two baby girls, born in 2021 and 2024.
Amid speculations about her return to the octagon, Rousey announced that she will fight fellow women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano on May 16, 2026.
The event is being organized by Most Valuable Promotions in partnership with Netflix, marking the latter’s first ever MMA broadcast. On the other hand, it will be MVP’s inaugural MMA event.
Rousey spoke excitedly about her upcoming bout with Carano.
Been waiting so long to announce this. Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest superfight in women’s combat sport history, and we’re partnering with the fighter-first promoter, MVP, as well as the baddest streamer on the planet, Netflix. This is for all MMA fans past, present, and future.
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H/T: WrestlingNews.co