Ronda Rousey might finally make her comeback. But not in MMA.
On Monday, Boxing Scene reported that Rousey is in “active negotiations” for a potential boxing match with Irish star Katie Taylor that would take place in Las Vegas in 2026 with a date still to be determined.
Boxing Scene also reports Netflix is interested in broadcasting the bout.
Rousey, a former UFC bantamweight champion, one of the biggest draws in the promotion’s history, and a pioneer of women’s MMA, last competed for the UFC in 2016. Since then, the 38-year-old has dabbled in other entertainment opportunities, including a lengthy run with WWE in which she became part of the first women’s match to headline the professional wrestling promotion’s tentpole WrestleMania event.
She was a dominant force in her UFC career, notching eight consecutive title defenses, several of which ended in under 90 seconds. Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, was best known for her lightning-fast submissions, though she also scored a handful of notable knockouts during her championship reign. That reign came to an unceremonious end with knockout losses to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm, with the Nunes loss at UFC 207 proving to be Rousey’s final fight.
Recently, Rousey has stirred up comeback talk with a series of interviews and training posts on her social media, but she has remained non-committal when it comes to actually competing again.
Taylor, 39, is coming off of back-to-back decision wins against fellow boxing legend Amanda Serrano. Though she is also approaching the tail-end of her career, Taylor’s global popularity peaked in recent years, with the 2012 gold medalist receiving a major marketing push from Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions culminating in a pair of massive boxing bouts with Serrano at Madison Square Garden in New York and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Matchroom Boxing currently manages Taylor, and CEO Frank Smith recently told Boxing Scene, “Look, [Rousey is] obviously a superstar name in the world of fight sports, and if she came across it would be massive. I haven’t heard anything about her coming across to boxing, but let’s see.”
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