GLENDALE, Calif. – Ronda Rousey wants to take her talents into the boxing ring as part of a master plan aimed at securing her place among history's most iconic fighters.
The UFC bantamweight champion, who will defend her belt against Holly Holm at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 14, admitted on Tuesday that she has designs on dominating global competition in boxing and jiu-jitsu once she ends her mixed martial arts career.
"I want to be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time in any sport," Rousey said at her media day, as she fielded questions while wearing a T-shirt that paid tribute to boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
"What I would love to do - I have got an Olympic medal (in judo), I would want to retire from MMA as one of the greatest of all the time," Rousey said. "I would love to have a chance to be the boxing world champion, I would love to have a chance to be the jiu-jitsu world champion, and I would love to have the chance to beat the previous world champions and just be the best all at one point.
"To be honest, my goals are so crazy. That's what I would really want to do, I don't know if I even have the time, I want to do so many things."
Rousey's schedule would appear to be hectic enough already. The bout with Holm will be her third title defense in just over nine months, while she has become a huge crossover star, with roles in several Hollywood movies and more on the way.
However, those close to the 28-year-old, including coach Edmond Tarverdyan, say she is a "natural born fighter" who is unable to resist a challenge. Moving into the world of boxing would be a step into the unknown. Most of Rousey's victories have come from her patented armbar, a judo move, however, she knocked out Bethe Correia in just 34 seconds with her fistic striking power at UFC 190 in Brazil in August.
The connections between Rousey and boxing right now are impossible to avoid. She appears on the cover of next month's edition of The Ring magazine, a boxing-only publication. Holm, from Albuquerque, N.M., is a former boxing world champion. Rousey even verbally sparred with Floyd Mayweather earlier in the year, appearing to allude to his history of repeated violence against women in an interview at the ESPYs.
"I have really fallen in love with boxing," she said on Tuesday. "I do boxing almost all the time. It would be impossible to spend that much time doing something and not fall in love with it in a way and I want to be more involved in the sport.
"How that is possible to do I am going to have to figure that out. But I am trying to figure it out. If anybody is capable I think that I am and I think it is just a matter of prioritizing and timing and figuring out when I can do which (sport) and when.
