Women’s MMA Icon Slams Naysayers During CBS Mornings Appearance

Ronda Rousey (12-2 MMA,) who went 6-2 in MMA’s top promotion, the UFC, has been making the rounds on the media circuit in preparation for her return to competition on May 16. That night, on the Netflix streaming platform, she’ll be fighting for the first time under MMA rules since 2016.

On the night before the world bid farewell to 2016, Rousey, who took a year off from competition in the wake of a shocking head kick knockout loss to Holly Holm, sought to reclaim her throne as UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion against Amanda Nunes. The latter only needed 48 blistering seconds, as well as a slew of punches, to derail Ronda Rousey’s bid to take back the title.

Afterward, Ronda Rousey turned her attention to the world of sports entertainment, specifically WWE, where she won the RAW Women’s Championship and held onto it until WrestleMania XXXVI in 2019, dropping the title by pinfall to Becky Lynch in a triple-threat match during the main event between Rousey, Lynch, and Charlotte Flair.

Although Rousey would eventually return to WWE on the SmackDown! brand, it’s been a long while since she’s fought in MMA. In a month, “Rowdy” will be back in action vs. Gina Carano (7-1 MMA) at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA.

Ronda Rousey Talks Carano Fight on CBS Mornings Wednesday

On the Wednesday broadcast of CBS Mornings, co-anchor Gayle King welcomed Ronda Rousey for an interview. Among the topics discussed in the interview is why Rousey chose now for a return to competition.

“There was kind of like a cascade of things that led to it, but I think, largely, I wanted to rewrite my own ending in MMA, Ronda Rousey began. “It was just unfinished. I never formally retired. Dana said I retired, and I hadn’t fought in like, 10 years.”

Rousey also mentioned that she has one major goal that she hopes to fulfill in the May 16 contest versus Carano in California.

“I think I want to be able to change all my prior negative associations that I had in MMA,” she continued. “I think everything just got kind of convoluted and it became about so many other things and I had the world on my shoulders. I lost sight of what I really loved about martial arts. I think that getting back to it and making joy in the process the priority has been the best decision I’ve ever made, besides marrying my husband.”

Ronda Rousey On Fans Doubting Her Abilities at Age 39

Ronda Rousey celebrated her 39th birthday on Feb. 1. At the time of her last fight in the UFC, she was about a month away from turning 30 years of age.

Her opponent, Gina Carano, who hasn’t fought in MMA since August of 2009 in the long-defunct Strikeforce, where Rousey was the Women’s Bantamweight Champion in 2012, is four years the elder in this contest at 43. When the topic of age came up in the CBS segment, “Rowdy” offered a reply in the way only she could.

“You know, I never hear Jon Jones’ age being brought up as a disqualifying factor,” Ronda Rousey said. “It’s not like my ovaries are fighting. Why are we even talking about that?”

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, a person’s age is only a statistic. How old or young a person is matters little in the grand scheme of things.

What carries more weight is what a person can do or has done at a particular age. While both Rousey and Carano are coming off of lengthy hiatuses from fighting, the fight on May 16 will be remembered most for what happens when the cage door shuts and the referee of the contest gives the command to fight.