Dana White: Ex-champ Ronda Rousey 'bigger now' than before KO loss to Holly Holm

UFC President Dana White believes Ronda Rousey’s star power reached a new level when she suffered a shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November.

Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was undeniably the sport’s biggest star when she entered her UFC women’s bantamweight championship fight with Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Australia. She appeared in movies, television shows and was featured on nearly every major news outlet.

Although it would seem logical for some of that star power to fade following such a devastating second-round knockout loss, Rousey’s name has  been in the headlines perhaps more than ever following UFC 193.

Due to her numerous big claims leading up to UFC 193, Rousey has received backlash from countless figures, including her fellow fighters, celebrities and event U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Receiving criticism after a failure is one of the unfortunate repercussions of being such a major part of the public spotlight. However, White said it’s not all bad. Rousey losing her perfect record and title were not the ideal outcomes, but the UFC boss believes the defeat actually helped Rousey’s fame bubble even larger.

“It’s crazy because you win and lose in the fight game; it happens,” White said today on ESPN’s “First Take.” “It’s funny, because we were comparing her to (former boxing champion Mike) Tyson, who had this invincibility. She was a Tyson. And it was never more true than when she lost – because when she lost, everybody was shocked. One hundred million people were talking about it on social media. And I actually think Ronda Rousey is bigger now after the loss than she was before the fight.”

Aside from a short Instagram post the day after the fight, Rousey has not made any public comments since the knockout loss to Holm. There was some concern that Rousey might turn her back on the sport and pursue an increasingly lucrative acting career, but it appears that won’t be the case and instead she’ll be on the comeback trail in attempt to reclaim her title.

Considering the one-sided nature of the loss, some have suggested Rousey take another fight besides Holm so she can get another win under her belt and regain confidence before entering a rematch. White said that won’t be the case, though, and instead Rousey will get an immediate opportunity to avenge the memorable defeat.

“I think that if we didn’t make the rematch, me and (UFC CEO) Lorenzo Fertitta should probably lose our promoter’s license if we didn’t make that rematch,” White said on the show. “That fight’s going to happen. I don’t know when, but that fight’s going to happen. Ronda Rousey has gone undefeated, taken the sport to another level and was beating the best women in the world in 14 seconds and 30 seconds. She deserves a rematch, and Holly deserves a rematch, and we’ll figure it out.”

The timetable for a rematch is still up in the air, White said. Rousey revealed prior to UFC 193 that she desired a layoff from competition to fulfill some obligations outside of fighting. Her targeted return date was UFC 200 in July, but White was non-committal about that date and said the timetable is entirely up to when “Rowdy” wants to compete.

“You have to give Ronda some time,” White said. “When Ronda’s ready to come back – there’s literally no pressure on her whatsoever to think about anything as far as fighting goes. And she’s on a medical 45-day suspension after the fight. She can’t have any contact or have anything for 45 days.”

For complete coverage of UFC 193, check out the UFC Events section of the site.