On Friday, Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey will fight Amanda Nunes, "the Lioness," in UFC 207. It will be Rousey's first fight since she was defeated by Holly Holm last December, and one of only a few appearances she's made on media cameras since that loss. Her media blackout was purposeful, of course. As UFC president Dana White told reporters Thursday, filling the media void, "It's definitely not ideal, but it's what she asked for." He continued, "Back in the day, Ronda would literally do anything we asked her to do. Anything.... So for her to ask for something like this, how can I say no to this?"
White didn't try to explain Rousey's silence, though he did comment on her attitude towards fighting. "Everybody knows that Ronda is psychotically competitive and I don't know why this is the way she's handling all this, but this is what she wanted to do," he said. And her wish seems to be his command, especially considering all that she's done for the sport—though White made it clear media silence wouldn't become the norm for other fighters.
If Rousey beats Nunes Friday, she'll also take back her spot as the women's bantamweight champion. If she loses... Well, she's been there before.
