Tonight, Ronda Rousey will return to the UFC octagon for the first time since her crushing defeat at the hands of Holly Holm back in November of 2015.
Not only was it her first loss, the stunning upset marked only the second time one of Rousey’s fights lasted longer than one round.
Rousey has spoken openly about spiraling into depression in the wake of her defeat by Holm, and many have questioned her emotional fitness to return to the ring.
Needless to say, a lot is on the line for the 28-year-old fan favorite, but based on her latest Instagram upload it seems Rousey is more than ready to square off against Amanda Nunes tonight in Las Vegas.
According to Rousey’s caption, the photo on the left was taken five days prior to her February 2015 fight against Cat Zingano, which Rousey won by submission in an astonishing 14 seconds.
The pic on the right was taken five days before tonight’s matchup against Nunes.
Rousey captioned her post “#FearTheReturn,” and it looks like Nunes should be doing exactly that.
Prior to her fight against Holm, Rousey was criticized for focusing too much on the public relations aspect of her career.
She made cameos in films like Furious 7 and Entourage.
She appeared in commercials, worked red carpets, and happily gave on-the-street interviews to tabloid-y outlets like TMZ.
These days Rousey is all business.
She’s made few public appearances in the 13 months since her loss to Holm, and she left yesterday’s weigh-in without offering a word to the press.
Adding to the pressure is the fact that Rousey has already announced her retirement plans, describing the Nunes bout as “one of my last fights” in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres last month.
Clearly, the pressure is on for Rousey’s long-awaited return, and many believe that if she’s able to recapture her title,
As though she needed added motivation, Rousey – an outspoken Bernie Sanders supporter – engaged in a public feud with Donald Trump last year, with the president-elect stating he’s “glad” she lost to Holm.
We’re sure Rowdy would like to take advantage of this opportunity to show the Donald that some of his critics are made of the toughest stuff there is.