Ronda Rousey's next fight date remains uncertain, as sources closes to her have confirmed that she will be sidelined for the rest of the year.
The last time Rousey was seen inside the UFC cage was in November 2015, when she was being handed with her most devastating moment of her professional mixed martial arts career.
Fellow former champion Holly Holm landed a left high kick that landed flush on Rousey's jaw, signaling the end of the fight at the second round of their headliner for UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia. Holm subsequently bagged the UFC bantamweight title, which was previously held by Rousey for the last three years.
Since then, "Rowdy" has kept herself out of the fighting limelight, and chose to focus on her acting career, instead. As far as her fighting future was concerned, the UFC initially had her booked for UFC 200 last July 9th. However, her film commitments had gone in the way, forcing the said plans to be scrapped.
She was then booked for UFC 205 in November, the company's first event in New York City after the 20-year ban on MMA fights in the state was lifted. Again, these plans were disposed of, after UFC president Dana White announced that Rousey was required to have knee surgery, and would be out of action until either December or January 2017.
Apparently, it looks like the much awaited return for Rousey would indeed be pushed back until the coming year. According to veteran journalist Dave Meltzer, as reported by Bloody Elbow, a few members from Rousey's close knit circle confirmed that the former Olympic judoka would be sidelined for the rest of 2016.
"I talked to one of her friends a couple of weeks ago, and the impression that I got - you know, we don't usually talk Ronda Rousey business - but I just go, what's your thoughts? Is Ronda gonna be ready to fight at the garden? And they said, no, probably early 2017," Meltzer said. "So that was the impression I was given two weeks ago."
Rousey was deemed as Sports Illustraded's "most dominant athlete alive" in 2015, after her string of victories against Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, and Bethe Correia.