Ronda Rousey Unlikely to Fight at UFC 200: Latest Comments and Reaction

Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey reportedly will not fight at UFC 200 as previously planned because of scheduling commitments related to her movie career.    

According to UFC President Dana White, Rousey asked for additional time off when the filming of her upcoming Roadhouse remake was delayed.

"The filming of the movie got pushed back," White said Tuesday, per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. "She could do both, but the question is, should she do both? She could do both, but why should she? The filming is in a time frame where she'd finish before 200, but it would be cutting it too close."  

White was initially planning on giving Rousey her rematch against Holly Holm at UFC 200. It would have been her first fight since Holm knocked her out in the second round of their Nov. 15 bout, which doubled as Rousey's first career loss. The eight-month wait was put in place so Rousey could fully recover from the injuries suffered at the hands of Holm, who was one of the biggest upset winners in UFC history.

White said Rousey's request was the reason he granted Miesha Tate a championship bout with Holm at UFC 197. Holm's camp had been pushing for a bout to keep her fresh between the Rousey fights, but the UFC president was understandably hesitant. UFC 193 produced more than 1 million pay-per-view buys, and the rematch would have only been bigger—especially if it took place at UFC 200.

Now that Rousey has requested more time off, though, White agreed to risk the financial bonanza and allow Holm to take on Tate.

"The way I look at this one is, Ronda has worked her ass off for us for the last three years," White said of granting Rousey more time off. "She's been fighting, promoting and building the sport. If anyone deserves the time off, it's her. The night [of UFC 193] Holly said she'd do the rematch and that Ronda deserved it and everything else. So we were holding it for her if she wanted to do it."

White did not give a definitive timeline for Rousey's return. The filming schedule of the Roadhouse remake shouldn't keep her on the shelf much past UFC 200 given White's comment that she "could" have done filming and training. Still, after fighting three times in a nine-month span in 2015, Rousey will have taken off at least nine months before her next bout.

It bears watching how much the fighting landscape changes by the time she's ready for her return.

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