Ronda Rousey says Conor McGregor has ‘earned’ his retirement

With Conor McGregor suggesting Monday night that he’s hanging up his gloves, another MMA superstar who retired from the sport is showing her support.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey appeared on SportsCenter and showed her support for the former UFC two-division champion.

“Well, it’s a creative way to retire, and it was a cryptic way to retire.” Rousey explained. “So, we’ll see how permanent it is. If he wants to retire forever, he’s more than earned it. And like I said, I’m ready to buy that second round.

Ronda Rousey (12-2) retired from MMA after back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. Prior to those setbacks, the 32-year-old went on an 11-fight winning streak, including highlight reel wins over Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Bethe Correira – which had a combined total of 64-seconds of cage time. In November 2012 she became the first female fighter to sign with the UFC and she successfully defended her title against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. Since leaving the UFC, Rousey has found success competing in professional wrestling for the WWE. Only having a year worth of experience, Rousey will be headlining WrestleMania next month

Conor McGregor (21-4) last competed in October where he lost a lopsided title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 where he was submitted in the fourth round. His retirement has drawn critics given his prior history tweeting out his desire to step away from the sport.

In 2016 he tweeted that he was stepping away from MMA during negotiations for a potential rematch with Nate Diaz during International Fight Week. They ended up fighting at UFC 202 later that year, where McGregor would take home a majority decision in the rematch. Since that fight, McGregor has competed just twice in the octagon, defeating Eddie Alvarez and losing to Nurmagomedov last year. Outside the cage McGregor founded his own whiskey “Proper Twelve” and also released his own clothing line with fashion designer David August.

Do you agree with Ronda Rousey that Conor McGregor has earned his retirement?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/27/2019.