Ronda Rousey reveals she contacted Dana White and UFC before signing with Jake Paul for comeback fight

Ronda Rousey has said she attempted to make her fighting comeback through the UFC before signing for Jake Paul.

The former UFC champion shocked the world on Tuesday by announcing she would be returning to MMA to fight fellow pioneer of the sport, Gina Carano.

MVP

Rousey hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Amanda Nunes in her final UFC fight in December 2016, but will put on the gloves once again at Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome on May 16.

Her fight with Carano is set to take place at 145lbs over five, five-minute rounds inside a hexagon cage under Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) banner.

The bout will go down live on Netflix as part of the streaming giant’s first-ever MMA event.

Rousey said the fight was ‘for all MMA fans past, present and future’ when announcing it on social media.

She has since given her first interview and revealed how it all came together.

Interestingly, ‘Rowdy’ noted that she reached out to UFC CEO Dana White first and foremost before conversations with MVP started.

Ronda Rousey says return ‘didn’t exactly work’ for UFC

“I was nine months pregnant and I saw a video of Gina Carano giving an interview and she didn’t look good,” the 39-year-old told ESPN MMA when asked what sparked the fire for her return.

“She gained an unhealthy amount of weight. And my first thought was like, ‘Oh my God, what can I do? What can I do to help?’

“And the reason why I had that thought was because she’s the one woman not only in MMA that doesn’t owe me a damn thing, but that I owe immensely. 

“I’m always trying to look out for what I could do for her. Her family owns a Caesars Palace; there’s nothing I could really do for her.

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“Except for when I was in a similar spot when I was depressed and gave up in the world and inadvertently gave up on myself. 

“What I needed was a goal and something to reignite my passion again. 

“I always said that Gina is the one person I would come back to fight for. And I thought, you know what?

“She needs this. She needs this fight. And the more that I thought about it, I was like, I need this. I really need this fight. 

“I reached out to Dana and asked him if he would be interested in it. And it didn’t exactly work out with the UFC, but it led us to here today.”

Rousey’s revelations came as a surprise to members of the MMA fraternity, as her return to White’s promotion has been discussed for years since her retirement.

Instagram / netflixsports

Her name crept up numerous times in debates over who would feature on the UFC’s upcoming White House card, until she firmly denied her involvement at the celebratory event.

White and Paul have also not seen eye-to-eye over the years, with the latter criticising the UFC’s fighter pay model several times.

Nonetheless, Rousey is now a part of Paul’s MVP and arguably instantly his biggest star.

‘Rowdy’ said the fight with Carano had been in the making for over a year, ever since she was pregnant with her second child.

She detailed having to overcome many obstacles to get the fight organised, adding that she would’ve trained Carano herself if it meant getting it over the line.

Rousey is doing ‘one marathon training’ session per day in preparation for the May fight.

The American is having to spend most of her time focusing on recovery to make sure she is in top condition for the super-fight.