A word of advice to journalists: If you’re going to ask Ronda Rousey about a potential mixed martial arts return, it’s best to do it as clearly as possible.
Mike Golic learned that the hard way during an interview with the former UFC champion on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo” show on Tuesday. Things got a bit awkward when Golic posed a follow-up question after Rousey denied saying she would never fight again. A full transcription of the exchange is as follows:
Golic: Let’s go back and start with when you knew from the MMA, when you were done there. When you knew in your mind, “I’m not going to fight anymore?”
Rousey: I never said that.
Golic: Ah, so there is a possibility that you could go back, in time?
Rousey: There’s a possibility that I could go back in time? That’s your question to me?
Golic: Go back in time and fight. Go back in the Octagon.
Rousey: I do not have the ability to go back in time, no.
Golic: Would you fight again?
Rousey: I don’t know.
While Golic probably could have phrased his question better, it’s still relatively clear that when he says “in time” he means eventually. Still, it’s no secret that Rousey has not been interested in addressing the end of her Octagon tenure, when she suffered knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. The closest she came to discussing the topic occurred during a recent World Wrestling Entertainment spot.
“I remember my last fight, walking away thinking ‘God hates me.’ I had nothing left in me,” Rousey said. “My husband [Travis Browne] is amazing and he really brought me out of some tough times. He would just look at me and just say like, ‘You’re not only this. You’re more than just a fighter.’ That’s not a bad thing, that’s not something I should be ashamed of, it’s something that I should embrace and showcase to the world and that’s why I’m here.”
Rousey has not officially announced her retirement from MMA, but during an appearance on “The Ellen Degeneres” show, she said a UFC return is “just as likely as me going back to the Olympics for another judo.” Rousey confirmed her signing with the WWE in January and is expected to make her in-ring debut at WrestleMania.
Well this is painfully awkward. Ronda Rousey misunderstands question, gets annoyed. pic.twitter.com/Pt7XwVRazh
— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) March 27, 2018