Ronda Rousey Discusses Cyborg, When She’ll Retire, More

– UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey recently appeared on Joe Rogan’s Podcast, discussing Cyborg and retiring by 31 or 32 (she’s 28 right now). Here are the highlights…

On Her Role in The UFC: “I don’t even think I’m going to know what is going on right now or realize what is going on right now until afterward, until it’s all done. I could just try to do the best that I can in the moment, but I don’t really think that any of us really comprehend what’s going on right now until we’re looking at it in hindsight. And that’s the kind of thing, I think it’s kind of funny. There’s so many people who just live to hate me, but when I’m gone, they’re going to miss me. They really are. I’m not the protagonist. I’m the antagonist, because the protagonist just reacts. They do nothing. The whole storyline, the whole everything that goes on, is completely dependent on the antagonist. I’m the one who’s forcing everybody to do something, and so I like to think of myself as more of the heel, the bad guy who you somehow sometimes root for. You can’t help it a little bit sometimes, but sometimes you hate them. I think the fact that mixed emotions come out is one of the more interesting things. I’m not trying to have everyone like me. I’m trying to have everybody care about what I’m doing.”

On When She May Retire: “It just seems unfinished. My career, there’s more left to do. I don’t feel like I’m done yet. Because with the Olympics, it’s just like you win the gold medal and you’re done. With the UFC, when am I really done? But I’m not going to be doing this in my thirties. I don’t want to be fighting into my thirties. By thirties, I mean like 31, 32.”

On Cyborg: “That’s the thing, when you look at these people from before, when they’re using, and after, when they’re not, they look entirely different. And ‘Cyborg’ looks and weighs exactly the same. If she gets off, it’ll be very easy for her to make weight, from what we’ve seen with every single other person that’s gotten off. I can’t say with proof or anything, but if you look the exact same as you did when you were using, then what changed?”