Ronda Rousey left UFC 207 at the end of December pretty much the way she arrived: shrouded in mystery and unwilling to speak to the public or media. The only statement she’s made since losing in devastating fashion to Amanda Nunes in a mere 48 seconds was in a release to ESPN stating she’ll “need to take some time to reflect and think about the future.” Until now.
A new Instagram post from the former UFC champion has just popped online, and it’s either concerning or inspiring depending on your point of view. It’s a quote from Harry Potter author JK Rowling that says “And so rock bottom became the foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
Obviously, rock bottom isn’t anywhere you want someone to feel like they’re at. There may be many who look at Ronda’s idea of rock bottom and think it looks a little less dire than the bottoms they may have witnessed. But on the positive side of all this, looking at said rock bottom as a place from which to build up from is about as inspiring a message as you can get out of that particular gloomy metaphor.
Does it mean Ronda will endeavor to build her MMA career back up from this? Or was MMA the cause of the rock bottom, and is Ronda planning on stepping away now? One of her coaches recently put the chances Rousey continues at 50/50. With her latest pay-per-view breaking the million buys barrier, it’s clear the world is still interested in seeing what she’s got. But many think it’s all but guaranteed Ronda will leave the sport. Longtime rival Cris Cyborg went so far as to share a retirement sounding send off in the comments of Rousey’s Instagram post:
Knowing Ronda Rousey and her competitiveness, we wonder whether that kind of thing may remind her how much unfinished business she has in the cage. It may be selfish of us to hope Ronda Rousey soldiers on despite the obviously terrible time she has following a defeat, but what can we say. The world needs heroes.
