TUESDAYS NEWS DIGEST: Dana White says he expects Rousey to “move to a desolate place” and live life outside of fighting (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)

Ronda Rousey may be close to retirement, if you ask her promoter.

During an appearance on UFC’s “Unfiltered” podcast (transcribed by MMA Junkie), UFC President Dana White was pressed on whether he felt former Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey would ever fight again, and while he was hesitant, he seemed to feel that she was done with fighting. “In the conversation I had with her, if I had to say right here right now… I wouldn’t say she fights again,” said White.

Despite Rousey being one of the promotion’s few big draws, and one of the biggest the sport has ever seen, White seemed accepting of the probability of Rousey walking away. “I’m happy for her,” he said. “She came in and changed the world. She put female fighting on the map. She’s been part of the biggest fights in the history of women’s fighting, and I hope those records can be broken. I don’t know if they can, but I hope they do.”

As for what he thinks she will do with herself after fighting, White said that he would expect her to “move to a desolate place” to escape celebrity life and doesn’t expect her to stay very visible in the public eye. “She’s going to ride off into the sunset and start living her life outside of fighting.”

Hiscoe’s Analysis: If Rousey is ready to retire, then that’s what she should do. She accomplished a lot in a very short period of time and she made plenty of money in the process. All indications are that she’s been good with that money, so she can retire comfortably and income opportunities outside of the cage will surely present themselves. The way she looked against Amanda Nunes did not give me a lot of hope that she could return the the dominance that she showed in her title run, so if her legacy is important to her, then now is the time to step away. I’d rather see her leave now with a few questions left unanswered than to keep coming back and hurt her legacy as B.J. Penn has, for example. Ronda Rousey has been very private about her career decisions, but Dana White seems to be one of the few people she confides in, so he may be setting the table here for her to officially retire in the next little while.

TUESDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…

-”Rampage” Jackson appeared on “The MMA Hour” yesterday and said that he doesn’t know what his fighting future holds for him after his March 31 rematch against King Mo. Jackson was unsure if he will be obligated to fulfill his UFC contract he signed in 2015 when he returned to the promotion for one fight only to be court-ordered to return to Bellator. He also said that he won’t be cutting to 205 lbs anymore and will fight at heavyweight and that he would like to fight in Japan again if he had the option.

-Ryan Bader also appeared on “The MMA Hour” and said that he is expecting to have a Bellator contract in front of him very soon and that, while he hasn’t committed to signing with the rival promotion, he likes the opportunities fighting for Bellator could present to him. He noted a potential light heavyweight title match with Phil Davis and the opportunity to make sponsorship money without the shackles of UFC’s Reebok deal as appealing aspects of fighting for Bellator.

-Aisling Daly announced on her Instagram account on Monday that she will be retiring from fighting after some abnormalities showed up on a brain scan.

I will be officially retiring from the sport of MMA. This past year a routine brain scan showed up evidence of an abnormality, the remnant of a small haemorrhage that had taken place at some point in the months previous. It would be unlikely I would be medically cleared to compete again, even in the event I could find a doctor who would clear me it would be very unwise for me to continue to compete with the risks involved. My career has ended prematurely but I’m very grateful for my long list of achievements, I am and will always be ‘Ais the first’ for so many things, my legacy set in stone in the history of Irish mixed martial arts. I am the countries first ever world champion, the first and only female to ever do it. I have and always will give back to the sport which has given me so much. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the fans who have supported me tirelessly through various parts of the journey. Without this support there is no sport of MMA as we know it. I would like to thank my good friends and close team mates, there is no substitute for the genuine loyalty built between people over years of blood, sweat and tears. I am truly most grateful for my wonderful family, who were there to pick up the pieces throughout my entire career and especially now when my dream fell apart. This would have been intolerable without their help, emotionally and financially. They say you can’t choose family but I would want no other. Now starts the next chapter of my life. I’m very fortunate to have grown up within such an outstanding organisation as SBG. I am equipped with the skills to be an exceptional coach and member of the martial arts community and I look forward to seeing what challenges lie ahead for me. “New Beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”― Lao Tzu #TheQueenofIrishMMA #AisTheFirst #SBG #happy #proud #grateful #MMA #UFC #retirement #worldchampion #blackbelt #legend

A photo posted by Aisling Daly (@aisydaly) on Jan 30, 2017 at 10:57am PST

-Al Iaquinta told Submission Radio that he may be returning to UFC soon after contract re-negotiations went sour last year leading to Iaquinta moving to a full-time career in real estate. “I definitely would rather be fighting,” he said. “It’s pretty hard when you’re fighting in front of thousands of people or whatever, and then you’re working in the office.”

-Last Friday’s Bellator show headlined by Melvin Guillard vs. Chidi Njokuani averaged 720,000 viewers on Spike TV.

-Celine Haga lost her appeal of the result of her Invicta fight earlier this month where she choked out opponent Amy Montenegro in the closing seconds of the fight but the referee did not notice or call and end to the fight. The fight then went to the scorecards and Montenegro won by unanimous decision. The Missouri Office of Athletics said that the referee made no determination that Montenegro could not continue therefore there was no violation. (SOURCE)

NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: MONDAY NEWS DIGEST 1/30: London’s UFC fanbase finally got a main event, but it’s probably not what they hoped for (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)