Last week, surprising news emerged about a potential boxing superfight between Ronda Rousey and Katie Taylor.
Since retiring from the UFC, fans have been eager for Rousey to return to mixed martial arts, despite her UFC career ending on a less-than-ideal note. However, a comeback in boxing wasn’t widely expected until reports surfaced last week that ‘Rowdy’ Ronda was negotiating a high-profile bout with Katie Taylor, an Irish champion regarded as one of the greatest female boxers of all time. Shortly after, Taylor expressed strong interest in facing the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Despite this, UFC president Dana White dismissed the chances of the fight happening after UFC 323, calling the negotiations overly optimistic and shutting down the possibility.
UFC veteran Dan Hardy weighed in on the debate, calling the potential matchup a bad idea. He expressed doubt about the rumors and suggested a more sensible comeback fight for Rousey would be against Gina Carano rather than Katie Taylor. Hardy highlighted that Taylor, in boxing, would overwhelmingly outperform Rousey, and mentioned that fights with other MMA fighters like Holly Holm or Cris Cyborg might make more sense if Rousey were to return. Meanwhile, Gina Carano, who had taken a break from martial arts, recently returned to training amid the speculation, demonstrating her skills and sparking interest as a potential opponent for Rousey, given their careers that almost intersected in the UFC but never did due to contract disputes.
Fan Take: This buzz around Rousey’s next fight keeps fans invested in her legacy and the evolving landscape of women’s combat sports. A superfight involving Rousey could redefine cross-discipline matchups and draw significant attention to both boxing and MMA.
