RONDA ROUSEY is reportedly planning a shock return to the octagon – nearly TEN YEARS after her last fight.
The former dominant women’s bantamweight champion walked away from the sport following her 48-second defeat to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016.
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Rousey has well and truly distanced herself from the world of mixed martial arts since her unceremonious retirement.
The 38-year-old mother-of-two recently set tongues wagging by sharing training footage on her social media channels.
Rousey’s accompanying caption for the video, which showed her honing her once Olympic-level judo, read: “Martial art nerd s**t.
And former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen has claimed the Hall of Famer is preparing to return against the winner of the eagerly-anticipated women’s 135lbs title fight between Nunes and current champion Kayla Harrison.
He said on his YouTube channel: “Ronda Rousey, going to come back, and fight the winner of [Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison], as long as the winner is Kayla.
“Now this is a story, and let me tell you what part of this I can confirm. I can confirm the story came from Ronda.
“In this space, it’s always ‘Ronda’s camp, one of Ronda’s people.’
“I understand those things. But it was.
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“The absolute inner circle of Ronda has let it be known that she will take on the winner of Amanda and Kayla, as long as it’s Kayla.
“So in other words: ‘I’ll return to fight for the title, if Kayla needs an opponent’…[but] that’s not how comebacks go.”
Sonnen, however, has his doubts about Rousey returning, adding: “I don’t believe it’s going to happen.
“It is the rumour, though…if the word gets to Kayla that Ronda said that, that could have some hard feelings.
“Those two know each other, those two worked out together, supposed to have some kind of a bond.
“And when Kayla finds out, she’s going to be half flattered and half p****d off.
“Ronda versus Kayla, not only will not happen, Ronda Rousey competing at anything at 135 pounds, also not gonna happen.”
Rousey, who entered the WWE less than two years after losing to Nunes, was the first female fighter signed to the UFC and a pioneer for women’s MMA.
I was forced to leave fighting when I was faster, stronger, more skilled and had a better understanding of the art than ever before.”
Ronda Rousey on why she retired from MMA
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She was at one point a bigger star than Conor McGregor and the face of the promotion.
She defended the 135lbs strap six times before suffering a stunning second-round KO loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015.
Nunes would then usher her out the exit door in December 2016. Rousey has seldom spoken about her retirement from the sport.
But she opened up on her decision to call it quits ahead of the release of her memoir, revealing that repeated concussions played a big role in her decision.
She said: “I’d like people to understand my reasons and motivations behind things.
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“I was forced to leave fighting when I was faster, stronger, more skilled and had a better understanding of the art than ever before.
“It was a really hard decision to understand, one that my body made for me.”
