EXCLUSIVE: Ronda Rousey had to 'grow up' away from MMA. So why is now the 'perfect moment' to return?

For so many years - at least watching the highs and lows of her career from afar - it felt like it was always Ronda Rousey against the world.

The perception was that Ronda Rousey sometimes felt like the world was against her too.

At her peak, Rousey was an enormous box-office attraction and became the face of the UFC, laying the groundwork for women to feature prominently in combat sports.

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But for better or worse, it always felt like she carried a huge chip on her shoulder and once it all came crashing down with back-to-back defeats against Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes in 2015 and 2016, she turned her back on the sport and walked away.

A transition to pro wrestling with WWE was successful for a while, but it never felt like Rousey was going to stick around for the long haul and by late-2023 she was out the door and made no secret of her disdain for the company and its fans once she left.

Her combative approach over the years towards promoters, media and fans left a sour taste for many people and it genuinely felt like Rousey's time in the limelight was over.

But make no mistake about it, that version of MMA's first true crossover star is long gone as she prepares for a comeback a decade in the making on Sunday (AEST) as part of a Netflix card featuring a stack of other former UFC stars.

In an interview with Wide World of Sports, the 39-year-old explained why she decided to step back into the cage, how motherhood forced her to 'grow up' and what working alongside the uber-polarising Jake Paul to promote her return fight has been like.

THE QUESTION ON EVERYONE'S MIND

After spending a decade away from competitive fighting, Rousey stunned the combat sports world earlier this year when she announced a fight against Gina Carano.

Two of the sport's female pioneers never squared off when they were both at the peak of their powers and for Carano, her return is actually 17 years in the making.

Carano, who competed for Strikeforce and EliteXC in the mid-to-late 2000s, started making it public that she wanted to make a comeback.

It seemed far-fetched, given the UFC was probably never going to bring a 44-year-old out of retirement and fighting for another existing promotion would have little impact.

That's where Rousey, Paul and the Most Valuable Promotions team entered the fray and got the ball rolling for a dream fight that never felt like a reality.

Rousey said she was "inspired" by watching Carano train for a return and after seeing the way Mike Tyson and Jake Paul's late-2024 showdown captivated the sports world, figured she could make an impact of her own on a Netflix-streamed event.

"I think this is the one moment where all the stars aligned," Rousey said.

"It was the perfect moment to have the most impact and it was the perfect moment in my life and Gina's life. She's the one that inspired me to come back.

"It's the perfect moment in combat sports and one thing that was proven with Jake Paul and Mike Tyson being the most viewed combat sports event of all-time is that these showcase fights are the future. People don't care about the brand and they don't care about the belts ... people care about seeing two characters telling a story.

"The crossroads that MMA is at right now with the UFC going to Paramount and Netflix missing out on that deal and wanting to be in that space, there was a void there where it was the perfect time for me to fill it and assemble all the other people that have walked away from the UFC because they weren't willing to pay them what they deserve.

"That's how we were able to get Francis Ngannou, Nate Diaz and Mike Perry and all of these huge stars on the card. This has been simmering for a while and it was at that point that I saw an opportunity, is when it reached its boiling point.

"It's more than just me and Gina, it's about the entire sport and the fighters taking their power back and their leverage to bargain for better fights and to break the monopoly that the UFC has become. I think it's the best thing for the sport all around.

"There's no better time than now and everything was meant to happen in this way, for the entire industry to change through this one event."

HOW MOTHERHOOD CHANGED THE BADDEST WOMAN ON THE PLANET

A lot has changed in Rousey's life since she last competed at a professional level and the most significant change has been the birth of her two daughters.

Rousey and her husband, former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, welcomed La'akea Makalapuaokalanipō in 2021 and Liko'ula Pā'ūomahinakaipiha in 2025.

While balancing family life with training for a fight could be difficult, Rousey believes becoming a mother has forced her to mature and find a better balance in life.

"It made me grow up a lot and it definitely redistributed my priorities," she said.

"We really made being able to meld training time and family time in this camp a huge priority. Being able to have a work-life balance actually enabled me to work harder.

"I felt like before, it was if I smashed everything into the work category I'll be better than everybody else. I didn't realise actually having that balance enables me to work harder.

"Working more doesn't mean you're getting a higher quality of work in that time."

Rousey is spending time at home in California leading into her bout with Carano at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and revealed how the "full-circle" experience of training at similar places to early in her life has allowed her to step back and be appreciative.

"I actually am at my house and it's like down the street, basically," she said.

"It's funny, the hotel I got to stay at [this week], me and my family would walk there for brunch since I was a little kid and that's where I would go and do my training.

"I would do the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica and a block down from the hotel is one of the hills I used to sprint up. When I moved back to LA when I first wanted to do MMA, I was too broke to afford a gym membership so I was back there training again.

"The open workouts [for the Carano fight] are at the Venice boardwalk where I would ride my bike and run on that beach to train for my fights.

"It's been really full-circle and nostalgic and I'm allowing myself to take it all in instead of just trying to get through it. It helps a lot that I had over a year of training  basically in secret. I didn't have to do any weight cuts, any fights, any promotion and I'm not cutting weight for this fight at all - I'm sitting around eating donuts and feeling well rested.

"I feel like I'm able to enjoy all these things, even sitting down and talking to you, it doesn't feel like it's taking out of my energy bank or taking away from the fight.

"It's all actually adding to the experience."

TRAINING AFTER 10 YEARS AWAY

While she's soaking in the moments leading into the fight more than ever before, don't take that relaxed approach as Rousey slacking off either.

After spending months training without the world even knowing she was coming back, Rousey has been able to strike the perfect balance to meet her new physical needs.

She explained that while training methods have been altered due to age and time away from fighting, the lead-in to face Carano might be the best she's ever felt.

"God, I feel fantastic," Rousey said.

"Honestly, I feel better in this camp than I ever did before. I think it's because I'm not cutting weight multiple times a year and because I'm not doing several fights in a year.

"I was just like OK, I'm gonna train to make myself the best that I can every single day and not try to break my body down in the process.

"We really prioritised recovery so much more this time around and I feel like I'm stronger, faster and more skilled than ever - but my recovery is not what it was at all. It's like when you get older and it's so much easier to get a hangover … you get so much more sore from working out when you get older, so we had to redistribute my schedule.

"Doing multiple training sessions in a day is just not in the cards, so now I just do one marathon session in the morning where I do everything - striking, grappling, throws, submissions - all in one session that's three or four hours long. Then I just do recovery the rest of the day - cold plunges, saunas, hyperbarics and all these different things.

"I have to spend a lot of energy on rebuilding myself after every single training session to get ready for the next one." 

WWE LESSONS AND WORKING WITH JAKE PAUL

During her time away, Rousey took her presence and name value to pro wrestling, where she became one of WWE's premier female superstars.

While there was always a scepticism around whether Rousey was in it for the right reasons from some within the wrestling world, there's absolutely no doubt that she helped elevate women to a level never seen before, culminating in the first-ever main event match at WrestleMania between herself, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

But it wasn't what happened inside the ring that Rousey appreciates most from her time with WWE - instead, it's a lesson that she's taking back to the fight game.

"I learned so much about promotion from WWE," she explained.

"The promotion is part of the fun of it and I think in the UFC, promotion was seen as a necessary evil that you have to deal with and it takes away from the fight.

"Pro wrestling really taught me that promotion is part of the fight itself. What is the story of the match? How are you getting people invested? How are you drawing people in?

"Even the way I speak at press conferences now, I can deliver this in a promo format and take out all the extra words and think ahead of time, what do I really want to say?

"[I learned to] make sure you always end on the best line and make sure you always bring it back to the fight. Don't just meander and be like 'I'm cool and I said cool things' … you can say cool things, but also [tell people] to watch this fight.

"It's always about bringing it back to that and making it entertaining. Filling my spoon full of sugar is what the WWE really taught me."

The press conferences leading into her fight with Carano have featured plenty of the other ex-UFC stars with colourful personalities, including cult hero Diaz and former heavyweight champion Ngannou, who are major parts of the Netflix card.

But perhaps the biggest and boldest personality involved with the event is Jake Paul.

Rousey believes that the YouTuber-turned-boxer-turned-promoter, along with business partner Nakisa Bidarian, have given her the tools to make this a success.

"Jake has been great, him and Nakisa have put so much trust in me and they have put so much influence in my hands over this event," she said.

"I think he's been great in delegating to me and saying 'you're the MMA person and you know this world' and really allowing me to be part of organising this event.

"He also elevates everything - at the first press conference he was there and elevated everything going on. He was instigating Francis [Ngannou] and when I met him [Paul] the first time, he's not a big person and the balls that he has, talking shit to Francis.

"I was like damn, the balls on this kid and really, it was him and Mike Tyson that inspired me to come back and convinced me that a comeback with Gina wouldn't be nostalgia bait or a money grab and it's legitimately the direction that combat sports was going."

'GIVE HER THE ROWDY SPECIAL'

As she said herself, fight promotion is all about bringing it back to the fight itself and ending on the best possible line to get people engaged.

So when time was up on Rousey's interview with Wide World of Sports, she delivered her prediction for the clash with Carano and what she plans to do once the bell rings.

"What I would love to happen would be to come in, give her the "Rowdy Special" and do some shit that no one has ever done to her before - take her down, tap her out and we completely leave unscathed," Rousey said with a beaming smile.

"That would be my optimal [situation] and what I would love, but I prepare for five, five-minute rounds and every single hit from her could be game over.

"But that's what my goal is - go in there, no strikes landed and no f---s given."