Ronda Rousey Returns to MMA After Nine-Year Hiatus to Face Gina Carano in Farewell Bout

Ronda Rousey ends her nine-plus-year break from mixed martial arts this Saturday, facing Gina Carano in what she plans as her final fight at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, under Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions.

The 39-year-old, widely considered the greatest female MMA fighter ever, told Fox News Digital she is excited now that the bout feels real. "Yeah, I’m excited. It’s finally, like, super real," she said. "At first, we were training in secret for, like, a year. It was really more like a year and a half at this point, but at least over a year. And now it’s kind of really bittersweet that it’s coming to an end. I’ve been having such a great time. This camp has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life."

Rousey became the first woman signed by the UFC and entered the Hall of Fame in 2018. She retired in 2016 after defending the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship six times and joined WWE full-time. Her MMA record started at 12-0, with losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. Nine of her 12 wins came in the first 70 seconds, and all but one were in the first round.

Rousey admits she is past her prime, but this training camp has not felt like a grind. "We made joy a priority — actually enjoying the process instead of just hoping enjoyment would come along the way," she said. "Before, everything was so result-oriented. Now, it’s about the process. And once we made that shift, 'Let’s make this as fun as possible,' I started getting better results than ever. I feel better than I ever have, physically and mentally."

She rejected her old-school view that suffering was needed to excel. "I used to be very much in that old-school mentality of, you have to suffer and make yourself miserable in order to be the best you can be. And now it’s like, no, I realize it doesn’t have to be that. I can enjoy this as much as possible, and it makes me the best that I can be," Rousey said. "Because I already know that I’m a bada--. I already know that I can dig deep. I’ve already paid all those dues, I’ve done all of those things. So I think just making it fun... good vibes only, it’s all about me, there’s none of this other stuff going on around me, no superfluous noise."

Rousey decided to return because of Carano. "Gina, that’s the reason," she said. Nine months pregnant and sitting in an office chair, she saw Carano struggling with her health and body image. After Mike Tyson's comeback fight at nearly 60 became the most-viewed combat sports event ever, Rousey saw demand for such bouts. "When I saw where Gina was at, and I looked down at my big belly, where I was at, I was like, ‘You know what? A fight between us would be huge not just for the world, but for each other.’ And I think this is what combat sports needs. This is what we need. And just like she inspired me to do MMA in the first place, she’s the one who inspired me to come back."

She promised her husband and swore to her sister that this is her last fight. The emotions run high knowing it is a farewell after nearly a decade away. "That fluttering in the chest, that nervousness, I know that’s what happens when I’m about to do great things," Rousey said. "I’m not afraid of how my body reacts to those things, because I know that’s what it does before I do something great. I perform above myself when I’m under a huge amount of pressure. So when I feel those symptoms of that pressure, I don’t shy away from it and get scared of it. It’s more like the launch sequence before the rocket blasts off."

Rousey wants to win, though she respects Carano deeply. "If there’s anyone on this earth who I would be okay with taking my happiness and running around with it, it’s Gina," she said. "Because she’s the only person in women’s MMA that doesn’t owe me a damn thing—and that I owe immensely. And if this is the only way that I can give back to her—to give her the comeback story of a lifetime—I owe everything, all the prosperity in my life, to her. If that’s the way that it has to go, then that’s the way that it has to go."

The fight will not be easy. "She’s going to have to pry victory from my cold, dead fingers. Because I want to show her the monster that she created. And I want her to be proud of me," Rousey said. "I want me beating the s--- out of her to actually be the greatest compliment I could ever pay her."