Ronda Rousey reveals what inspired her return to MMA after nearly 10 years

This Saturday will mark the end of Ronda Rousey’s nine-plus year hiatus from mixed martial arts, and if all goes as planned, it will be her farewell.

The 39-year-old is perhaps the biggest female MMA star of all time and is giving fans another show as she will face legendary fighter Gina Carano at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, with the help of Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

“Yeah, I’m excited. It’s finally super real,” Rousey told Fox News Digital. “At first, we were training secretly for about a year. At this point it was actually more than a year and a half, but at least it was more than a year. And it’s really bittersweet that it’s coming to an end now. I’m having such a great time. This camp has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life.”

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Rousey, who became the first woman signed by the UFC and became a Hall of Famer in 2018, retired in 2016 after six successful UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship defenses before joining WWE full-time. Rousey’s MMA record got off to a 12-0 start before losing her last two matches to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes respectively., Nine of Rousey’s 12 victories came in the first 70 seconds. All but one victory was in the first round.

It’s no secret that Rousey is past her prime, but this camp “didn’t feel like a grind at all.”

“We made happiness a priority, actually enjoying the process instead of just hoping the joy would come,” Rousey said. “Before, everything was very results-oriented. Now it’s about the process. And when we made the shift to ‘Let’s make this as fun as possible,’ I started seeing better results than ever before. I feel better than ever, physically and mentally.”

“I used to have that old-school mentality that you have to suffer and make yourself miserable to be the best you can be. And now it’s like, no, I realize it doesn’t have to be that way. I can enjoy it as much as I can, and it makes me the best I can be. Because I already know I’m a bada — I already know I can dig deep. I’ve already paid all these dues, I’ve done it all. So I think just making it fun… just good vibes, it’s all about me, nothing else going on around me, no unnecessary noise.”

So why did you come back in the first place?

Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano pose after the press conference for the Most Valuable Promotions MMA card at the Palladium Theater in New York on April 15, 2026. (Ed Mulholland/Imagn Images)

RETURNING TO FIGHT AFTER A 10-YEAR BREAK RONDA ROUSEY: ‘THIS IS FOR ALL MMA FANS’

“Gina, this is why,” he said.

“I was sitting in an office chair, nine months pregnant, about to explode. I saw him at a low point, losing his bodily identity and being really unhealthy. And after seeing Mike Tyson come back at almost 60 (years old) and being the most-watched combat sports event of all time, I knew there was a huge demand there and that these exhibition fights were the future of combat sports.”

“When I saw where Gina was and looked at where my big belly was, I thought, ‘You know what? A fight between us would be huge, not only for the world, but for each other as well.’ I think this is what combat sports need. This is what we need. And just like he inspired me to do MMA in the first place, he was the one who inspired me to come back.”

Rousey said she “promised my husband and swore up and down to my sister” that this would be her last fight. Knowing that this is farewell after almost a decade, all emotions are in play.

“That pounding in my chest, that nervousness, I know that’s what happens when I’m about to do big things. In a way, I’m not afraid of my own anxieties or my own fears. I don’t even label it that way. I’m not afraid of how my body is going to react to those things because I know that’s what it does before it does something great. I’m outperforming myself when I’m under a lot of pressure. So when I feel those symptoms of that pressure, don’t shy away from it and don’t be afraid of it.”

“This is more like the launch sequence before the rocket explodes.”

As much fun as Rousey is having, she still has a goal; to win. Admittedly, Rousey said, “If there’s anyone in this world I’d be willing to take my happiness away from and walk around with, it’s Gina.”

“Because she is the only person in women’s MMA who doesn’t owe me anything, and I owe a lot,” she added. “And if that’s the only way I can give back to him – to give him the comeback story of a lifetime – I owe everything to him, all the prosperity in my life. If it has to go this way, then it has to go this way.”

But it won’t be easy.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey interacts with the crowd at the UFC Time Is Now press conference at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nev., on November 17, 2014. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images)

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“He’s going to have to wring victory from my cold, dead fingers. Because I want to show him the monster he created. And I want him to be proud of me,” Rousey said.

“I want me to beat him up to be the biggest compliment I can give him.”

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