UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (Photo : USA TODAY Sports)
UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey believes that she couls still bag a gold medal at the Olympics.
Rousey had no doubts by her two Olympics' worth of elite international judo experience, given her credentials: 2008 Olympic judo medalist, and 11-0 in the span of four years as a professional mixed martial arts fighter.
The 28-year-old is confident that she would be able to master judo again if she devoted an Olympic cycle, although she has no plans on going back to Olympic judo.
According to NBC Sports Radio, Ronda said in a phone interview on Tuesday: "I still believe I would be able to win the Olympics," adding that judo takes all of your energy and it has to be the no. 1 priority of your life.
After 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rousey decided that she could no longer devote 100 percent of her time and energy to judo. Following this decision, she started her MMA career, which did not sit well with her judo coach Jimmy Pedro.
In 2013, Rousey said Pedro "pretty much told me to go [bleep] myself," according to USA Today.
"He didn't want to help me," Rousey added when asked about the reaction of her judo coach regarding her decision to pursue mixed martial arts.
On March 10, Tuesday, Rousey said that the two of them have not spoken much since then. She said that he just became one of those disbelievers she had to prove wrong.
Rousey became a professional MMA fighter by 2011; and by 2012 she won the Strikeforce bantamweight championship. According to her, it is about time she gave up judo altogether because she had been teaching classes twice a week at Dynamix MMA in southern California for additional income along with working graveyard shifts at 24 Hour Fitness and as a veterinary assistant.
Rousey's victory over Cat Zingano on Feb. 28 in a UFC Championship-record 14 seconds made much. However, Rousey said that she once beat a judoka in just four seconds at the 2004 World Junior Championships final in Budapest, Hungary.
The professional MMA fighter said that the Olympic chapter of her life is over, and it has been closed, written and passed, according to her own words. However, she would not mind to go on a trip to Rio de Janeiro next summer, saying she always wanted to be a spectator
