Dana White Addresses Ronda Rousey's UFC Return Rumors
Dana White says Ronda Rousey's rumored UFC return isn't happening even though she's done with WWE for now.
Ronda Rousey lost to Shayna Baszler at WWE's SummerSlam premium live event earlier this month in what is reportedly her last WWE match for the foreseeable future. Rumors of Rousey returning to the UFC for a return fight at UFC 300, which will take place in mid-2023, started popping up months prior to her send-off match but were quickly refuted by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani. UFC President Dana White then set the record straight in an interview with Sports Illustrated this week.
"There's no shot. She's accomplished everything she set out to do. Her dream was to win a UFC championship, then win a WWE championship, and she's done it," White said. "Now she's starting a family. Ronda has made so much money, and she's still making a lot of money in sponsorships."
Rousey became the first woman to sign with the UFC in November 2012 and was crowned as the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Champion following her success in Strikeforce. She'd go on to compete in eight fights for the UFC and wouldn't suffer her first loss until UFC 193 in November 2015 against Holly Holm. She'd return to action 13 months later to challenge Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship but lost in under a minute. She'd then pivot to professional wrestling.
Shayna Baszler on Her Personal Issues With Rousey
While Baszler and Rousey are close friends in real life, the former NXT Women's Champion claimed in the build-up to their match that they had legitimate personal issues stemming from their respective MMA careers.
"One thing I've always said about wrestling fans, I guess sports fans in general, is they can smell when you're faking the funk. All this is like legit and real talk. I think they connect to stuff that's real," Baszler explained while on The Bump. "I have seen some stuff from people like, 'Who am I supposed to be cheering for? Who's the bad guy?' ...You just cheer for who you like. And it just happens to be me, because the stuff I'm saying is real. And if we're being honest, the stuff I'm saying is the stuff fans have been saying ever since Ronda got signed [by WWE]. So, I'm done being quiet about it."
"[Shayna Baszler] you were the reason I got into this business... Now I got no reason to stay," Rousey wrote on Instagram after her SummerSlam loss.
WWE's 2023 Premium Live Event Schedule
WWE has four premium live events left for the remainder of 2023. That includes Payback at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh (Sept. 2), Fastlane at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (Oct. 7), a yet-to-be-named Saudi Arabia show on Nov. 4 and the annual Survivor Series show at Allstate Arena in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois on Nov. 25.