Dana White’s opinion on Ronda Rousey’s MMA career is received with a stern response from Ariel Helwani. American actress, professional wrestler, former judoka, and mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey. Her time spent with the WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is what made her most famous.
Before Valentina Shevchenko overtook her in 2022, Rousey held the record for the most UFC title defenses by a female, with six wins. She debuted at UFC 157, the first-ever female fight for the Women’s Bantamweight Champion title. The first female fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, Rousey announced her retirement from mixed martial arts in 2016, after which she joined the WWE.
The main factors behind this decision—which surprised many people in the sports world—were Rousey’s history of concussions and how they affected her career and health.
Dana White On Ronda Rousey Retirement From The UFC
When Rousey was at her best, she and Conor McGregor were the two most well-known competitors the UFC had ever sponsored.
However, Rousey faced the bad phase of her fighting career almost as fast as her ascent to prominence. After a devastating knockout loss to Holly Holm, Rousey was never seen in the UFC again until a quick finish against Amanda Nunes almost 13 months later.
The CEO of the UFC, Dana White, thinks that Rousey’s unwavering dedication to developing the sport and her readiness to act as one of the promotion’s faces ultimately enabled the opposition to catch up with her.
Soon after Ronda Rousey’s downfall, Dana White shared why Ronda Rousey couldn’t grow and evolve as a fighter in the UFC.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral MMA stories via Google! Follow Us
According to an MMA Fighting social media post shared on X, Dana White said,
“While (Ronda Rousey) was doing what she was doing, building the sport and the UFC and Women, all these other women were training to beat her. She had taken so much on her shoulders at the time. It was literally impossible for her to keep growing as a fighter during that period.”
Ariel Helwani responded to Dana White’s comment about this.
“By this logic no superstar athlete could be successful for more than 3 years. The revisionist history on Ronda’s MMA departure is getting a little wacky. It’s not that complicated. She was incredible. A megastar. She helped opened the door to a whole new generation of fighters. And then she lost to a better fighter. And then another. Then retired. It happens.”
Rousey was practically done following her loss to Nunes, even though she never officially retired. In all honesty, White thought that she had left at the proper time.
Even while he loved having Rousey around, White feels that when she finally decided to put up her gloves to focus on professional wrestling and begin a family with her husband, Travis Browne, she had nothing more to prove.
Also Read: UFC Legend Ronda Rousey Reveals Why She Does Not Attend UFC Events Anymore
