Nearly a year after her heart-breaking loss to Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey will step back into the ring to face current UFC female Bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes, at UFC 207. In a division that she dominated for a few years, Rousey must now prove that she can stand as a formidable presence, not just on December 30, but in the matches that will follow the rest of her career. Since Holm caught Rousey with the knock-out round-house kick that secured her victory over the former US Olympian, the title has exchanged three times. Holm beat Rousey at UFC 193, Miesha Tate choked-out Holm for the title at UFC 196, and Amanda Nunes submitted Tate at UFC 200, making Nunes the current champion.
While Rousey seems to be in tip-top shape for her return, her mental stability is questionable. MMA legend Chuck Liddell stated to TMZ Sports that Rousey, "folded," after her loss. "I don't know what happened," he claims. Percy Byshee Shelly's classic poem, Ozymandias, explains the Rousey phenomenon. The poem tells the tale of a king, Ozymandias, who fell from grace. "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Right now, Rousey's greatest fight is with herself. She can't stand the fact that she lost her championship and is not the best fighter in her division. While it is extreme to say that Rousey's mental battle will led to her ultimate fall from grace, it will definitely hinder her from getting back to the top.
"(As a coach), I would've gotten her a warm-up fight, just to get her back in the game," Liddell says. "Amanda Nunes is a tough, tough opponent. If you want to come back, that's the one you come back and show you're back." This win will truly be a huge moral victory for the former champion. We'll just have to wait and see in Las Vegas for UFC 207 on December 30, 2016. Will Rousey get rocked, or will we have a new champion for the new year?