Ronda Rousey announces re-retirement following 17-second victory over Gina Carano

Ronda Rousey has reportedly retired again after overwhelmingly defeating combat sports trailblazer Gina Carano in their non-championship return in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, fans witnessed a surprising defeat by armbar after just 17 seconds.

American stars Rousey, and Carano, are highly regarded as two of the most prominent female champions in MMA history. Their remarkable performances took the sport into the mainstream during the height of their fighting era more than a decade ago.

Carano had made a name for herself in Hollywood career, and appeared in several action movie roles. 

On the other hand, Rousey-an Olympic bronze medalist in the UFC found massive success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before initially retiring from the sport following consecutive defeats against Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm.

“Gina is the only person who could have brought me back into MMA – she’s my hero,” Rousey said. “She changed my world, and we changed the world, and I’ll never ever forget that or be able to pay that back enough.

“I’m so glad we finally got to share this moment.”

Rousey reflected on possibly extending her comeback: “ There’s no way I could have ended it better than this. I want to have some more babies, so I have to get cooking.”

Carano had been sidelined in the sport since August 2009 while returning to MMA after a conversation last year. She acknowledged the fight was too far for her, that she could have done it in a shorter time period.

She is looking forward to regaining physical strength, and in shape for her return-revealed that she had shed more than 100 pounds over the last two years. For her simply gearing up to the contest was a significant victory in itself.

“I feel great,” Carano said after the loss. “I wanted to fight, ⁠⁠and I didn’t get that. But she trained. She ⁠⁠had her game plan. I have so much love and respect for her, and this was a victory in my life. She changed it. I woke up at 3am every morning thinking about ‌‌her. I fell back in love with mixed martial arts. There are many things to think about here. It’s just [that] the fight didn’t go my way.”

“I wanted that to last longer – I felt like I was so ready, I felt so good,” she said. “But I haven’t been here for 17 years. I wanted to hit her.”