From the moment a thunderous headkick from Holy Holm sent Ronda Rousey to the canvas with a thud at UFC 193 last November, speculation has been rampant about just when Rousey will make her return to the octagon.
The earliest and most fiscally responsible guess was UFC 200, but that pipe dream came and went after a knee injury sidelined her. Most observers and insiders then expected the 29-year-old to make her comeback from her first career loss during UFC’s return to New York at UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden. Well, that is now off the table as well.
Dana White confirmed on the UFC Unfiltered podcast that Ronda will not return at the first card in New York in nearly 20 years as had been heavily rumored. Rousey herself publicly pined for a spot on the card, saying, “I feel like I earned the right to fight here because I fought for it,” in reference to her years-long campaigning for MMA legalization in New York.
Dana himself said previously he hoped Ronda would fight on the card, but eventually backed off that stance. Now, with the event a few months away, White said, “She’s definitely not fighting in New York.”
For Rousey, that means her hiatus will be over a year by the time she steps back into the octagon, and if she hopes to return in 2016, her only options after UFC 205 are UFC 206 on December 10 in Toronto and UFC 207 on December 30 in Las Vegas. White has previously stated that the plan was for her return bout to be against the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, but after the way Amanda Nunes dominated Miesha Tate at UFC 200, that may no longer be the plan.
