Ronda Rousey Praises Namajunas, Jedrzejczyk Following UFC 223 Co-Main Event

Ronda Rousey has left her Octagon career behind, but she was definitely watching the UFC 223 co-headliner on Saturday night.

In that bout, Rose Namajunas earned a five-round verdict over Joanna Jedrzejczyk to retain her strawweight belt in a rematch at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The back-and-forth bout was in sharp contrast to their first meeting at UFC 217, which Namajunas won via first-round knockout.

Rousey, the former UFC bantamweight queen, took to Twitter to praise both fighters.

“So proud of [Joanna Jedrzejczyk] and [Rose Namajunas] fighting their hearts out and representing all women and all fighters tonight,” Rousey wrote. “UFC is lucky to have you both.”

So proud of @joannamma and @rosenamajunas fighting their hearts out and representing all women and all fighters tonight @UFC is lucky to have you both

— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) April 8, 2018

Rousey will make her official WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania on Sunday after announcing that she had signed with the sports entertainment organization in January. While the Olympic judoka hasn’t officially retired from mixed martial arts, she did recently say that a UFC return is “just as likely as me going back to the Olympics for another judo.”

For the most part, Rousey has avoided discussing the last portion of her UFC tenure during media appearances. “Rowdy” began her MMA career with 12 consecutive triumphs and was part of the first-ever women’s bout in the UFC. She established herself as a massive crossover star, but much of her aura faded following an upset loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2015. She last appeared in the Octagon at UFC 207, where she suffered a 48-second TKO defeat to current bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes.