Ronda Rousey is officially set to return to the cage on December 30th after over a year away from the sport. We know this because UFC president Dana White announced it on the Colin Cowherd Show on FOX Sports 1. Ronda Rousey herself was nowhere to be seen, and continues to be absent from the spotlight as the public excitement over her comeback grows.
That may have a little something to do with her perception of how the media has treated her since losing her fight to Holly Holm in November of 2015. When asked how Rousey was doing on the Jay & Dan Show, White revealed she was feeling pretty betrayed by all the outlets she spent so much of her time talking to dealing with.
“Her biggest issues in my opinion were with the media,” he said. “She just felt like the media completely turned on her when she lost. Not abandoned but felt attacked,” White said. “She felt like these people in the media that she gave three years of her life cruising around, giving interviews to, completely turned on her when she lost. Listen, I’ve been doing this for 16 years and I’ve had my moments with the media. The media can irritate you and if you go through something traumatic like she did with losing and everything else and you have to listen to some of the things that are being written and said, I get it.”
Rousey’s sense of betrayal goes further than just the media too. Earlier in the year we learned that Ronda “freaked out” on UFC prospect and Dancing With The Stars finalist Paige VanZant for merely congratulating Holly Holm after her win. So if she’s bothered by that, we can only imagine how pissed she is after all the speculation on her mental state and dedication to the sport from the press.
If she had simply said “See you in twelve months” way back when, all of this could have been avoided. Instead we’ve had this mysterious radio silence, and when the internet doesn’t get answers to the questions they’re asking, chances are they’ll start making answers up.
It just makes us all the more interested in what we’re going to see when Ronda Rousey finally resurfaces. Is she going to shun all but the most important media obligations like Conor McGregor has? Or will she throw herself back into the grind, stare her betrayers in the eyes, and tell them to go f**k themselves? Anything is possible when it comes to Rowdy Ronda Rousey. Which is why the media can’t get enough of her, whether she likes what they have to say or not.
