Former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is set to return to MMA ten years on from her last UFC fight when she takes on Gina Carano in May – but how do fans think she’s shaping up in training?
Rousey, who was the first woman to sign with the UFC and win one of the promotion’s belts, will return to the octagon in a five-round bout, which will be broadcast on Netflix on 16 May.
The bout, which will be fought at the featherweight limit of 145lbs, will be Rousey’s first professional contest since she lost by TKO to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 on 30 December 2016.
And you’d have to go back to 1 August 2015 for the American’s last victory, which came against Bethe Correia at UFC 190.
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Before sustaining her first UFC loss against Holly Holm in her penultimate fight, Rousey boasted a pro record of 12 wins from as many fights.
After leaving the UFC, Rousey signed with the WWE before leaving the company in 2023 after facing Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam.
Two years later, in 2025, she finally admitted that she retired from MMA after suffering “concussions and neurological injuries”, which she had hidden for several years.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Rousey explained that she was concussed ahead of her bout with Holm.
“I fell down the stairs and knocked myself out two weeks before,” she explained.
“But I had been hiding concussions and neurological injuries for so long that it just became part of it. And that was the point I was forced to really self-assess and be like, ‘your brain has taken too much damage for too many years’.”
But despite the concerns for her health, she will soon return to the octagon and has already begun training for the fight against Carano, who is also seen as a pioneer of women’s MMA.
And on 25 February, footage emerged of Rousey in training, which provoked fans into offering their thoughts.
One said: “Ronda Rousey changed MMA forever. Male, female, doesn’t matter. She put UFC on the map. Everything we see today? All thanks to Rousey. She brought fame, fans, everything. Rousey forever.”
Another added: “Looks as good as she’s looked hitting the pads but the head movement still doesn’t look natural enough to come out in a real fight. She would resort to her ways of head up and wide swings in a firefight, I’m sure of it.”
A third claimed: “She improved her striking a lot. She might revert back into her old way of striking as soon as the bell rings, but from the pad work this is a promising level up.”
While a fourth commented: “If this is the best she’s got she better hire a stunt double for the fight.”
As a fifth exclaimed: “No she looks terrible and always been overrated. She fights and moves very jerky.”
Topics: Ronda Rousey, MMA, UFC
Luke Davies