Dana White says he’s been keeping in regular contact with UFC superstar Ronda Rousey since her devastating KO loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, and has revealed what the former bantamweight champion has told him about the circumstances leading to the defeat.
“I’ve talked to her almost every day after the fight and when she sat down with me and [Lorenzo Fertitta] a few days ago,” White stated on the ‘Off The Record’ show on TSN. “She said, ‘I was exhausted going into that fight. I was exhausted mentally, physically, emotional,’ She had a lot of personal things going on, too, with her family.”
Certainly, just from the media obligations alone Rousey had more on her plate than any other fighter in the history of the sport, with every major media outlet around the globe clamoring for interviews and news stories as her popularity soared to unprecedented levels. while she also signed up to do several major acting roles during this period as well.
On top of that she was dealing with issues closer to home such as her mother and long-time mentor AnnMaria De Mars publicly disapproving of her coach Edmond Tarverydan in the weeks leading up to the fight in Melbourne, Australia, while it also then emerged that Tarverydyan was filing for bankruptcy.
If that wasn’t enough heavyweight fighter Travis Browne confirmed that he was Rousey’s partner, a relationship that raised many eyebrows given that just months before his estranged wife accused him of domestic abuse leading to a temporary suspension from the UFC, though he’s since been reinstated.
So, it’s easy to understand why Rousey was feeling the strain with everything going on in her life, but at the same time it’s still very much up for debate as to whether it would have made any difference on the night against Holm’s superior striking and perfectly executed strategy.
Interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor knows a thing or two about the stresses and strains that come with being a high-profile MMA fighter and at a press gathering for his latest fight at UFC 194 later this month he stated his belief that it was a combination of all of the above factors that led to Rousey’s downfall.
“I know there was problems,” McGregor said. “I don’t know her situation. From looking from where I was at, I could see that maybe she’s doing a little too much on the media side. That coupled with personal life that I don’t know about, maybe could’ve hampered her training a little bit. Maybe could have hampered her mind. And then the particular style of opponent in Holly. It all kind of combined into making her a little bit too emotionally invested.”
Even before her loss Rousey had indicated that she would be taking time out of the spotlight before returning, and certainly given what happened at the Etihad Stadium last month that plan will still remain in place.
When the 28 year-old will feel ready to get back to it remains unclear at this stage, but when she does return White says it’s a no-brainer that it will be for a rematch with Holly Holm.
“That fight’s going to happen. I don’t know when, but that’s the fight that will happen,” White told ESPN.
“I think that if we didn’t make the rematch, me and Lorenzo should probably lose our promoters’ licence.”
