Opinion: Ronda Rousey’s Next Move

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

By now, everyone has seen the video of Ronda Rousey biting into an apple, which means that she is one step closer to getting back into the Octagon.

Everyone has also heard that UFC President Dana White has essentially offered Rousey the fight against newly minted UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate. But, for the love of the MMA, I hope that Rousey reconsiders and does not take what could be perceived as the easy way out.

Although White stated prior to UFC 196 that Rousey would face the winner of Tate’s fight with Holly Holm, it’s not like those words are carved in stone. As a matter of fact, there have been many occasions on which White has said one thing and done another. Just ask Tate about her title opportunity ending up in the hands of Holm.

Rousey has stated that she wants revenge for the brutal knockout dealt to her by Holm last November. But when Rousey allegedly told White that she would have to “get back to work” after being informed that Tate had choked out Holm, it sounded like Rousey was going to end her vacation away from fighting earlier than expected to take on Tate, who she has already beaten twice.

Were Rousey to return and face Tate instead of Holm, it would do massive amounts of damage to her character, considering that she would be taking the easier road to becoming champion again and purposefully avoiding Holm. Moreover, for Rousey to rush back into the cage because Tate is now the champion would be, for lack of a better term, lame. If Holm had won at UFC 196, would Rousey have delivered the line about getting back to work? It seems highly unlikely.

Whether or not Holm has the title, that should be the fight Rousey wants more than anything else, to the point where she would turn down a title shot to get her redemption first. That’s more admirable than chasing a belt.

Honestly, Rousey should fight anybody but Tate right now. If she wanted to take on Amanda Nunes for the No. 1 contender spot, that would be more salvageable than fast-tracking her way to a title shot against a woman she has beaten twice already. Regardless of the angles the UFC could put together and the certain money that can be made, if Rousey wants to redeem herself to those that she lost when she was knocked out by Holm, she needs to avoid another fight with Tate for the time being.

If Rousey sticks to her plan for a November return, it would make sense to have Tate and Holm rematch this summer. Or, to avoid a rubber match scenario, Tate could defend her title against Nunes while Holm faces a returning Cat Zingano. The worst thing Rousey and the UFC could do would be to put “Rowdy” on a bullet train to a world title shot against Tate. It just looks cowardly, despite the idea that Rousey-Tate 3 could be a totally different fight than the previous two encounters.

Nobody knows exactly what Ronda Rousey is thinking right now. After all, she just bit into an apple for the first time since her jaw was broken in November. Perhaps she didn’t mean for her comments to be taken the way they have been. Maybe it just came out wrong and Rousey isn’t really considering the Tate as the first person she’ll see in the Octagon. Who really knows?

Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.