Los Angeles — Ronda Rousey (13-2) took all of 17 seconds to submit Gina Carano at the inaugural MMA event on Netflix on Saturday.
A little anticlimactic, but not unexpected, given Carano had been out of the sport for 17 years.
Rousey herself hadn’t fought in a decade, spending time in professional wrestling’s WWE following the end of her UFC career. Yet her judo skills were clearly still in top form on Saturday, as she landed a takedown, moved to mount, and locked in an arm-bar in seconds.
“Rowdy” noted following the bout at the Inuit Dome in L.A. that there was no anxiety or stress in her latest fight camp. That’s something she credited Carano for. “She’s rekindled my love for this again. I used to feel such a huge wave of relief after a win, and I didn’t even feel that at all tonight. Because I wasn’t stressed out, I didn’t have all this anxiety weighing on my again.”
“Through this fight camp I kind of figured out the way I should have been doing it all along. That’s another gift that she gave to me. This experience, the last year and a half has been so fun. I’ve had such a great time. This is the best camp of my life, and I’m so glad I got to end it like this.”
Of course, with Rousey retiring once again following Saturday’s comeback, there was a lot of reflection during the post-fight press conference. Once upon a time, Ronda Rousey had hoped to retire undefeated in MMA. She’s now glad she didn’t.
“I think this is much better than retiring undefeated,” Rousey stated backstage after the event. “I think I didn’t really learn until I went into pro wrestling and saw that ‘oh, if you retire with the title, you take all the equity with you.’ And that would have been to the detriment of the division if I did that. I think that’s one part of why the 145 pound division is gone in the UFC. It retired with Amanda [Nunes].”
Now that she’ll be out of the public eye once again (Rousey has always done an admirable job of remaining private when not promoting a fight or wrestling appearance), will there be any attempt to get back in the spotlight? Are there really no more big goals?
“I do have big goals, but they’re not always for the public and other people to see,” she told Cageside Press on Saturday. “Fame and all that kind of stuff is a hustle. I don’t enjoy making social posts every day. The clap button is the best f*cking thing that ever happened to me. I’m like ‘clap clap clap clap clap.’ I ain’t doing sh*t. Because it’s work, and you have to put thought into it and stuff like that.”
Later, Rousey would explain that “being in the spotlight was never a goal, it was a tool to help me accomplish my goals. It’s fun, but it’s just so much more fulfilling for me to be with my family, spending time with them and being a mom and all this stuff. I don’t feel like I have to be witnessed to be validated.”
As for retiring off a win, when her UFC run wrapped up off back-to-back losses, Rousey noted that “this was just the best experience to walk away on. It couldn’t have been better.” From the build to the opponent, added Rousey, “it was just kind of like a feel-good experience all the way around. It was a feel-good story.”
Rousey also confirmed she sprained her ankle “pretty bad” about two and a half weeks out from Saturday’s fight, though it didn’t seem to impact her in the end.
Watch the full MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano post-fight press conference with “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey above.
