‘Rowdy’ Back? UFC fighter Chelsea Chandler drops major hint about Ronda Rousey’s return to fighting

Former bantamweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey has not fought in the octagon since 2016, but could a return be on the cards?

Since retiring from MMA following her loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207, ‘Rowdy’ has been competing in pro-wrestling with WWE. Recently, though, it’s been suggested that Rousey is looking to depart from the pro-wrestling promotion altogether.

More interestingly, there have been some suggestions that the former champion could be ready to return to the octagon. A recent DraftKings ad for UFC 290 has even been cited as one piece of evidence to support this.

Now, a current UFC fighter has suggested that she’s heard the same kind of things.

Chelsea Chandler, who competes at 145lbs and will face Norma Dumont this weekend, had the following to say during a pre-fight press conference:

“I’ve been hearing that Ronda is coming back, and I’ve heard she’s coming back at 145...”

Interestingly, the suggestion that Ronda Rousey should return at 145lbs is not a new idea. It was recently mooted by Eric Albarracin, who is better known as the coach of former UFC bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo.

Albarracin suggested that ‘Rowdy’ should return as a featherweight in order to “save the weight class”, which has often been considered to be on the verge of being cut entirely by the UFC.

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Ronda Rousey UFC return: Could ‘Rowdy’ skip the line and take an immediate title shot?

It’s now been nearly seven years since Ronda Rousey last competed in the UFC, as she was defeated by then-bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in under a minute.

With rumours now swirling around that she might be looking to return to the octagon in the near future, could ‘Rowdy’ skip the line and get an immediate shot at either the bantamweight or featherweight title that Nunes recently vacated?

Given her star power, it’s definitely possible. One UFC personality who weighed in on this recently was play-by-play commentator Jon Anik:

"In a true meritocracy that just is not gonna sit well with me nor the athletes that have been donating blood, sweat and tears to MMA over the last several years. If anyone is worthy of that type of opportunity, it's probably Ronda. I do believe that she would be competitive because she wouldn't enter that setting without the guarantee that she would be competitive. But I didn't like that Henry Cejudo came back and cut the line of a bunch of [bantamweight fighters] that have been active. It would be hypocritical for me to say, 'Absolutely, let's elevate Rousey and have her return!'"

Watch Jon Anik discuss Ronda Rousey’s potential return below.