Rousey: I’m wrapping it up, show’s not going to be around forever

Ronda Rousey is the most famous person in mixed martial arts, ever. And she is a pay-per-view monster. In 2015, Conor McGregor’s two 2015 PPVs did 2.025 million buys, over 25% of the PPV buys in 2015. Rousey did 2.6 million buys with her three events.

Rousey has not fought since losing her title to Holly Holm at UFC 196 in March. Since then she took time off for minor surgery and to relax after years of frenzied media duties. In her absence, the title changed hands three times in eight months, from Rousey to Holm, Holm to Miesha Tate, and Tate to Amanda Nunes.

Now Rousey returns to fight Nunes in the main event of UFC 207 on December 30, at T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She reports that she has been doing two-a-days since early August, described her current state as “Super Ninja good mood,” and said her training has included climbing trees.

During her off time, the UFC sold to WME-IMG. The new UFC owners are in a furious push for more massive PPV events. However, during a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Rousey said she is winding her MMA career down.

The fighter, 29, was asked how long she would be fighting.

“Not that long, I’m wrapping it up,” replied Rousey. “This is definitely one of my last fights. .. Everyone better watch. The show isn’t going to be around forever.”

Rousey also detailed how the waiting is the hardest part.

“I think it’s more of the build-up that’s more tiring than anything else,” she said. “Like, if we had a fight right now, I’d be like, I’d fight right now and I’d go get dinner, and I wouldn’t feel like really tired about it. It’s the weeks and weeks of build-up beforehand, and you know you’re fighting this one person, and it’s your showdown, the most important thing in your life, and millions of people are watching.

“It’s that build-up for weeks on end. If it just happened right now, I wouldn’t be nervous at all. It’s the waiting.”

DeGeneres asked the fighter about making the New York Times list of 282 people and places Donald Trump has insulted since declaring his candidacy.

Rousey’s entry was “Not a nice person.”

The fighter tried to recall how it came it about.

“I think he said I was going to vote for him,” said Rousey. “It was news to me. I said ‘I am not voting for a reality TV star to be the president.’ That’s all I said. So that makes me not a nice person.”

“I’m going to frame it. I keep my belts on like an ottoman. I put my feet on them. But that’s going to be on the wall.”

Lastly, Rousey talked about the domesticating effect of her relationship with boyfriend UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, and knitting.