White: Rousey talked me into the smartest thing I ever did

UFC president Dana White appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter following the defeat of former champion Ronda Rousey by defending champ Amanda Nunes.

I went backstage, after, and hung out with her for probably 40, 45 minutes, said White. And I’ll tell you this – she’s in better spirits this time than she was after the Holly fight. She’s very competitive. She does not like to lose, she loves to win. And she loves to do what she sets out to do. Tonight wasn’t her night.”

None of this would be here, without Ronda Rousey,” said White. “Ronda Rousey built this. She talked me into letting women come into the UFC, and it was the smartest thing I’ve ever done. So regardless of whether she comes back, she doesn’t come back … she’s a winner. She built this whole thing.

The single biggest question coming off the loss is why Rousey stayed with coach Edmond Tarverdyan. The second biggest question is will she ever fight again.

“I don’t know,” said White. “Ronda obviously needs to go home, take some time. She’s very rich. She doesn’t need to fight any more. She’s super competitive. Maybe she wants to. I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

It seems highly unlikely at this point that Rousey ever fights again. But what if she came back, and decided to stick with Tarverdyan?