UFC Star Ronda Rousey Finally Joins WWE Full-Time
After much speculation, UFC superstar Ronda Rousey has finally made the transition to becoming a full-time WWE athlete. The former UFC bantamweight champion revealed on Sunday that she has signed a contract officially making her part of World Wrestling Entertainment.
After making guest appearances at WWE shows including Wrestlemania 31, Rousey is now a full-fledged member of its roster. After fighting in the octagon one last time in December 2016, many sports analysts expected the 30-year old mixed martial artist to make the switch.
"This is my life now," Rousey told ESPN. "First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt."
Rousey made a surprise appearance at Sunday's Royal Rumble following Asuka's victory in the women's Royal Rumble. She made her entrance wearing the late "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's iconic leather jacket along with his classic flame font for her name on the Titantron – a reference to her UFC nickname, "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey, which was approved by Piper himself.
Earlier this month, Rousey was spotted with Triple H suggesting that she was in the midst of negotiating her entry to the WWE. While neither revealed the subject of their meeting, her recent announcement makes everything clear.
It's currently unclear what Rousey's first full match will entail. However, there are those who suggest a match between Rousey and three MMA fighters against Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bayley and Shayna Bazler, something that was hinted during last year's Mae Young Classic event.
Rousey took the MMA world by storm over the course of four years. After winning a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympic games, she won each of her three amateur MMA fights in less than a minute.
Her first 12 professional fights were similarly one-sided as Rousey became the Strikeforce, and the UFC, women's bantamweight champion. Her undefeated streak was broken following her loss to Holly Holm in the main event at UFC 193 since then she has taken a break from MMA returning to face Amanda Nunes on December 30, 2016.
