Former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey just signed on with the WWE full-time, officially announcing her status sans words at the Royal Rumble on Sunday. She was a force to be reckoned with in the Octagon from 2013 to 2015, when her loss to Holly Holm shattered her morale and drove her into depression. A second loss against Amanda Nunez seemed to seal Rousey’s fate.
Although she hasn’t said she’s officially retired from the UFC, and told ESPN that she won’t say it, the former champ is excited to start a new chapter in her life. Her debut follows plenty of speculation and rumors, so it wasn’t exactly a shock to anyone, including UFC featherweight champ Cris Cyborg, who had a few things to say about Rousey’s decision to go full-time WWE.
Cyborg, an MMA veteran who many considered to be a perfect potential superfight for Rousey for quite some time, most recently defended her featherweight belt against Holm, the same fighter who ended Rousey’s reign as bantamweight champ.
“I believe that [Rousey] will be happy in WWE, and it’s completely different from the reality of MMA,” Cyborg said in an interview with MMAfighting.com. “For example, wins and losses are decided before the shows.”
She also gave her thoughts on Rousey’s handling of her losses, which she politely refused to discuss in the ESPN interview following her WWE announcement.
“I think it’s normal,” Cyborg said. “In reality, we can only talk about things that we already overcame in our minds. She hasn’t overcome her MMA losses yet, even in another stage of her career. Sometimes people need professional help to get over it.”
Cyborg can’t exactly relate to Rousey, considering she’s still in the position that Rousey was prior to her losses. She’s easily one of the most intimidating names in women’s MMA, and her next title-defense fight hasn’t been set yet. The most recent word is that she agreed to a superfight against women’s bantamweight champion and fellow Brazilian Amanda Nunez at UFC 226 in July, but there’s no official confirmation at this point in time.
