Jose Aldo News: Reigning featherweight champion believes Ronda Rousey will never fight in the UFC again
Reigning UFC featherweight champion José Aldo believes former bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey will be walking away from mixed martial arts after losing to Holly Holm on Saturday night at UFC 193.
Rousey (12-1, with 12 victories by stoppage) incurred her first ever professional MMA loss when she was knocked out by "The Preacher's Daughter" in front of 53,000 frenzied fans at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
"Rowdy" has managed to keep an unblemished record since turning pro in 2011. While her accomplishments are not to be ignored, many people within the prizefighting circle believe that Rousey's loss will be greatly affecting her.
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One notable person is none other than the last of the two UFC Brazilian champions, José Aldo. In a report by Sam Galanis of FOX Sports, Aldo believes such a loss will lead Rousey to rethink her immediate career future.
"I think it's really hard for her to return to fighting. Her career has taken a different direction," Aldo explained. "If I'm making a lot of money doing movies or something else, I'd go that direction, too. Am I going to mess my face up getting punched in the face? You're crazy. In my opinion, I don't think (she fights again)."
"If she comes back, of course she can (win the title)," he continued. "She was always a fighter, but if I were her, I wouldn't come back."
For many fighters such as Paige Van Zant and strawweight champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk and even newly crowned champion Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey paved the way for female fighters around the world.
This is something Aldo has also considered, and he believes it is "Rowdy's" legacy that will matter over anything else.
"I think the legacy Ronda leaves behind is that she changed women's MMA," says Aldo. She put it where no one ever imagined, where even Dana White said it would never be, and it is now. That's her legacy. She has done a lot for women's sport."
Aldo will be unifying the UFC featherweight titles against interim champion Conor McGregor at UFC 194 on December 12th in Las Vegas.
