Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey is set to step back into the world of MMA for the first time in over a decade in which her first stint ended rather negatively. However, she feels she is returning better than ever.
Speaking to TMZ, Rousey, who suffered back-to-back dramatic losses at the end of her UFC career, stated that she is a smarter and more skilled fighter than she was back in 2016.
“I’m better than I’ve ever been. I’m definitely better than I’ve ever been. It just really helps so much that the landscape of the sport has changed. You know, people forgot that when I was competing before there were no coaches with MMA experience. There was no one with MMA experience with coaching experience. So usually the person with the most MMA experience on the team was the fighter. And everybody else had their own separate discipline and it was up to the fighter themselves to try and piece things together. Finally with this camp, I have help with that. I’m not just guessing and having to go and spar over and over and over again and try and piece things together and figure things out. It’s us as a team actually developing all of this together.”
“I was more strong and more explosive and, you know, more cartilage and collagen before. But always what set me apart is my technique and how skilled I am as a martial artist. And I’ve never been more skilled, my technique’s never been better, I’ve never had a better and higher fight IQ. This is definitely the best that I’ve ever been.”
Rousey is set to face Gina Carano on May 16 as part of an event that will stream on Netflix.