UFC commentator Jon Anik recently opened up about the possibility of women’s MMA legend Ronda Rousey making a comeback to professional MMA competition. The only reason that the possibility of her making a return to the UFC is on the table is because her old foe, Amanda Nunes, has recently decided to retire from the sport. This has left a huge hole in the women’s bantamweight and featherweight divisions, as Nunes has been at the very top of both for years now. Anik believes that Rousey might see this as an opportunity to return:
“If anyone is worthy of that time of opportunity, it’s probably Ronda Rousey. And I do believe she would be competitive because she would not enter that setting without the guarantee that she would be competitive.”
Of course, there’s no guarantee that she’d want to take time away from her lucrative WWE career in order to dedicate herself to MMA once again. Rousey has become a mother relatively recently too, so it’s safe to say that her life is incredibly busy right now. Regardless, sometimes an opportunity is just too good to pass up:
“If ever there was a time, you’re right. It would be absolutely now, and I’m not gonna sit here and suggest she’d be a betting favorite against Julianna Peña or Raquel Pennington, but I can understand why people would be excited at the possibility, but in a true meritocracy, I do think that’s a little bit of a tough sell.”
Of course, what the fans would want to see isn’t always what’s best for the sport. Although there’s millions of people out there who’d love to see Ronda Rousey make her UFC comeback, Jon Anik is one of many who would rather see the opportunity go to those who are still competing regularly:
“In a true meritocracy, that’s just not gonna sit well with me, nor that athletes that have been donating blood, sweat, and tears to mixed martial arts over the last several years.”
This wouldn’t be the first time that a legend of the sport returned and jumped to the front of the queue either, but Anik hasn’t been a fan of the other times it’s happened either:
“I didn’t like that Henry Cejudo came back and cut the line of a bunch of 35ers that have been active. So it would be hypocritical of me to sit here and say, ‘Absolutely, let’s elevate Ronda Rousey and have her return.’”
Ronda Rousey has been open about the fact that she should have walked away from the sport earlier before, so she may never feel the desire to make a UFC comeback. That isn’t much of an issue though, as Anik pointed out that there are several women who could be given the opportunity to become the next bantamweight world champion anyway:
“Even though we can’t settle on two obvious bantamweight contenders right now, it’s not as though there aren’t worthy title challengers. There are four or five women who I think are deserving right now. Unfortunately, one of them is not Ronda Rousey, but we’ll see.”
The interview with Jon Anik where he discusses the possibility of Ronda Rousey making her UFC comeback now was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of MMA Fighting:
