Ronda Rousey has stayed busy since parting ways with the UFC. In February 2013, Rousey stepped into the Octagon for the first time with a professional MMA record of 6-0.
At the time, ‘Rowdy’ had already become a superstar after securing six consecutive first-round armbar submissions in Strikeforce, King of the Cage, and Hard Knocks Fighting.
Rousey had separated herself from the rest, but nobody could have predicted how popular she would become during her UFC tenure. The Olympic gold medalist quickly made an impact in the UFC by defeating Liz Carmouche in her promotional debut to become the women’s bantamweight champion.
Rousey became one of the biggest superstars in MMA history by defending her throne five times, all inside the distance. Between 2015 and late 2016, Rousey’s fighting career came to an end due to back-to-back knockout losses against Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. As a result, the California native ventured into acting before pursuing a career in professional wrestling in 2018.
Over the last five years, ‘Rowdy’ continued to grow her platform by winning gold with the WWE. Earlier this year, the 36-year-old parted ways with the promotion for the second time, leading to various rumors about what could be next for her.
Is Ronda Rousey signing with AEW?
There have been rumors about Ronda Rousey pursuing a return to the UFC. With that said, the Olympic gold medalist has enough money and fame to avoid any further damage in MMA, so she will likely focus on professional wrestling or acting.
Over the past week, Rousey has made two appearances at smaller professional wrestling promotions. Firstly, she teamed up with close friend and AEW wrestler Marina Shafir for a tag team match at Wrestling Revolver, which ended by disqualification.
The next day, ‘Rowdy’ teamed up with Shafir again for another match at Ring of Honor, the partnering promotion to Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling. Since then, the rumors of Ronda Rousey signing with AEW have strengthened, as other popular wrestlers have recently made the move from WWE.
Therefore, it’s unclear if Rousey will sign with Ring of Honor or AEW, but she does seem interested in continuing to pursue professional wrestling. Only time will tell if she officially signs with one of the promotions to work with Shafir for the foreseeable future.