Ronda Rousey Confirmed As Sonya Blade In ‘Mortal Kombat 11’

All week long, Mortal Kombat 11 fans have been counting down to today’s big community event, where we got a closer look at the forthcoming brawling sequel. But one big factor that’s been teased from a few days ago just got confirmed. The game is going to get some serious muscle.

Ronda Rousey, who’s currently the Raw women’s champion for World Wrestling Entertainment following years of battling in the UFC’s Octagon, was confirmed to play Sonya Blade in the upcoming sequel. She took the stage during today’s presentation and voiced her support for the role.

During today’s live-stream, they showed a segment featuring Rousey talking about her admiration for the character, and how she’s been a fan of Mortal Kombat “as long as I can remember,” so this is a dream come true for the superstar. She then came out to talk about her experience on the project, and to talk about her favorite character. (Sonya Blade, of course.)

Rousey follows in the footsteps of other actresses that have portrayed the military-based heroine over the years, including Kerri Hoskins in Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, as well as Bridgette Wilson, who played Sonya in the Mortal Kombat film from the 90’s. But no doubt Rousey is ready to back up her actions with some sick moves. (No word yet if she’ll be performing an armbar.)

Rousey did motion capture and voiceover work for the role, and based on what we’ve seen thus far, she’s fit into the role quite nicely.

Previously, it was hinted at that Rousey would be portraying the character, and just yesterday, she posted an Instagram image showcasing her special invite for the game, complete with Kombat Koin. In the post, she noted, “The invitation I’ve been waiting to accept my whole life. Don’t worry, Earthrealm is safe with me 😉 Can’t wait for Thursday! I’ll be there #MK11@mortalkombat“

Fans will no doubt have a lot to say about this casting decision, as Mortal Kombat 11 continues to ramp up on star power. But this does create some interesting crossover potential between the brand and WWE, possibly to the point that the fighting game could sponsor an event. That hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but we’ll let you know if we hear anything official.

For now, however, Rousey must be psyched to be included in the game; and her portrayal of Sonya Blade will no doubt bring a number of new fans to it, if only to see how well she performs signature moves. Wait…is she going to have the Kiss of Death?

Mortal Kombat 11 releases on April 23 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.