Ronda Rousey Confirms Retirement After Submitting Gina Carano

Ronda Rousey (13-2 MMA) is out bro. The former UFC bantamweight champion ended her career by submitting Gina Carano (7-2 MMA) with an armbar in 17 seconds at MVP MMA 1 on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, and then said it would be her final fight. 

“There's no way I could've ended it better than this,” Rousey said in her post fight interview. “I want to have some more babies and I've got to get cooking.”

Seventeen seconds and that was that. A whole decade removed from MMA and she returned, hit a double leg in three seconds flat, mounted, and arm barred up like it was 2013. It's actually wild to me cause Ronda has been around fighting almost as long as I've been alive. And bro, Carano tapped damn near immediately too. The entire ordeal concluded before most people in attendance even sat down in their chair. It was actually insane.

Rousey Calls Carano Her Hero
The ending was a bit of a surprise too. Don't think anyone expected it go down as fast as it did. But what happened after the fight was something else entirely. Travis Browne, Rousey's husband, leaped into the cage and the two shared a tearful hug. Then Rousey turned her attention to Carano, and dang man I wont lie, this was the most beautiful part of the night.

"Gina is the person who brought me into MMA," Rousey said. "She's the only person who could have brought me back into MMA. She's my f*cking hero." She continued. "You brought me back home when nobody else could. You showed me where my home was when nobody else could. You changed my world and we changed the world and I will never, ever forget."

That kind of admiration between two athletes is rare man. But Rousey and Carano were pioneers of women's MMA. Carano made history in 2009 headlining the first ever women's MMA major event against Cris Cyborg. Rousey took that blueprint and then created a global phenomenon. This was the first time they had stood across the cage from each other. The two woman who started it all. 

10 Years Away From the Sport

Ronda Rousey hadn't fought in MMA since December 30, 2016. That was the night Amanda Nunes knocked her out in 48 seconds at UFC 207. After that there was no post fight interview, no explanation. She just disappeared from MMA and moved onto WWE and started a family. The way it ended left a bad taste for a lot of fans who had been with her since the Strikeforce days.

But this was the correction. Rousey got her armbar, got her moment, got the ending she never had. And she did it on her own terms outside the UFC, on a Netflix card promoted by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions. It's definitely not the road anyone would have predicted for her. 

At this point Rousey has been active in some form of fighting since before a lot of current MMA fans were even old enough to watch. Nine armbar finishes in Strikeforce and the UFC. Six straight title defenses. An Olympic bronze medal in judo. A whole generation of women's fighters who exist in major promotions because of what she proved was possible. A wild career with a wild ending.

Rousey Fought Hurt

MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian revealed at the post fight press conference that Rousey entered Saturday's fight with an injury. Fans noticed a limp during Friday's weigh-ins but nothing was confirmed until after the win. Bidarian didn't delve into much detail on the specific injury but the fact that Rousey got in there at 39 years old, after a decade off dealing with some kind of physical issue, and still finished the fight in 17 seconds says a lot about what this fight meant to her. She was not leaving Los Angeles without getting that win.

What Carano Said AfterCarano (7-2 MMA) may have taken the loss but she didn't rule out competing again. She mentioned to reporters that she was disappointed in 17 seconds because she had been ready for more than a year and wanted to showcase more of her preparation.

Carano reportedly had lost over 100 pounds to make the 145-pound featherweight limit. her last fight was in 2009 as well. So 17 years between fights but she still showed up and tried. I mean bro she went through an entire body transformation just to get in there. That alone deserves respect regardless of the outcome. Rousey left no doubt about what this fight meant to both of them.

"I told her, 'I respect you and I'm breaking your arm,'" Rousey said. "No contradiction there. It was beautiful. It felt like the magic was back."