Ronda Rousey Extends UFC Contract, Considers Boxing

UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey may have recently cleaned up a cool $130,000 from her 14-second fight against Cat Zingano, but don’t be surprised when she banks a much higher purse when she enters the cage again in August.

Rousey announced that she just renegotiated her contract with the UFC and signed on for several more fights in an interview with ESPN First Take earlier this week. She didn’t go into specifics about the length or money involved, but UFC president Dana White has a penchant for securing big stars to long-term deals.

“I’m a UFC fighter,” said Rousey. I have a lot of fights that I have in the UFC before I would be able to go and do anything else.”

The “anything else” Rousey is referring to is boxing. The subject of boxing came up when Rousey was asked about facing former women’s boxing champion Laila Ali. “I would love to try it, but I have a lot going on,” said Rousey when asked about boxing. “I have fights. I have two movies coming out. I have a book coming out. My schedule is a little full.”

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Rousey went on to say that in her spare time between UFC fights, she focuses all her training on boxing and no longer grapples. Clearly, it seems as if Rousey would love to try boxing, but chances are she will remain in the Octagon for now.

Don’t expect much to change for Rousey, who hopes to complete another lightning quick finish in her next fight, which is scheduled for August 1st in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil against Bethe Correia. Rousey would love a repeat and went on to explain that her new marketing campaign with Reebok would include shirts that read “don’t blink.”

Rousey was also asked about the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, stating that she believes Pacquiao has a good chance to defeat Mayweather, even if it takes longer than 14 seconds.

“If he’s just really relentless and uses all of his speed, I think he’s going to give Floyd an extremely hard time,” she said of Pacquiao, who has his own opinion of Rousey’s abilities.