A few weeks after her loss to Holy Holm at UFC 193, Ronda Rousey told ESPN the Magazine that her face was so rattled in the fight that it “might be three to six months before I can eat an apple.” And it’s with that, that we bring you this:
BREAKING: @RondaRousey is “Back biting apples again!”https://t.co/AZd50JYI8p
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) March 14, 2016
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Amazing. Four months after having her face blown up, Rousey’s back to pulverizing a Pink Lady. “I’m biting apples again,” she says. “Pretty excited about this.”
The bigger question in Rousey’s recovery remains unanswered though: When will Rowdy get back to pulverizing real ladies? After Miesha Tate upset Holm at UFC 196, UFC head Dana White suggested that Rousey may return to the cage this summer, though most expect her to sit out until October or November.
In any case, the apple bite is yet another step in the right direction. In early February, Rousey was throwing punches again. The next step? Taking punches, which will provide a much bigger test for that jaw than any apple.
Who Rousey will fight next remains as unsettled as when. At this point, her next fight sets up as a title shot against Tate, who she’s beaten twice before. But that might be a problem if Rousey isn’t ready to go soon. “I am the champion. I definitely want to stay active. I want to defend my belt,” Tate said last week.
One tantalizing rumor about Rousey’s next fight is that it will take place at Madison Square Garden. The arena could soon be allowed to host the UFC as New York State inches closer to becoming the last state in the nation to legalize MMA. That would certainly make her bite out of that apple more meaningful.