Amanda Nunes Apologizes To Ronda Rousey For Diss After UFC 207

Amanda Nunes has made clear she feels remorseful for her verbal jab at Ronda Rousey.

Amanda Nunes Apologizes To Ronda Rousey For Diss After UFC 207

Nunes, the UFC bantamweight women’s champion, took to Instagram on Tuesday to apologize to Rousey for some of the remarks and comments she made toward the former champion.

The pair met in the main event at UFC 207 on December 30. Merely 48 seconds into the fight, Nunes was able to defend her 135-pound title against Rousey, who turned 30 on Wednesday.

Moments after her victory, Nunes posted on Twitter an altered photo of Rousey’s face superimposed on a child in a stroller, while the 28-year-old Brazilian pushed her around.

Nunes followed up her post with strong words about the American.

“Forget Ronda Rousey,” Nunes said in her post-fight interview. “She’s going to go make movies now and retire.”

It appeared Nunes was upset at the time over the much larger promotion Rousey had received ahead of their fight, despite the fact Rousey had been upset by Holly Holm in a stunning loss over a year earlier, while the Brazilian had taken the bantamweight title. Nunes also felt the UFC had coddled Rousey by allowing her to have very few media sessions prior to their bout.

“I feel like UFC want to make it easy for her, so she doesn’t feel like she’s not the champion anymore,” Nunes told reporters before UFC 207 (via USA Today). “They want to do this to make her feel strong or something. They try to promote her so she can see that — ‘Ronda, Ronda, Ronda.’ . . .

“They want to make things more soft for her.”

However, Nunes softened her tone in her apology via Instagram on Tuesday:

“Let me take a moment to explain myself,” Nunes wrote while posting a picture of her and Rousey during their fight. “I was overwhelmed with adrenaline, emotion and hurt at the time. I held so much in during the weeks prior to my fight with Ronda. I might have said or posted some things at the time that I now realize was not the right thing to do. I want to apologize to Ronda. Her fans and mine and the UFC as well. Ronda is an amazing athlete and has done so much for this sport, especially for the women. #respect”

Earlier on Tuesday, UFC president Dana White said he’d had a “conversation” with Rousey that led him to conclude her MMA career was “probably done.”

“She’s so competitive that, her career and record meant everything to her,” White said of Rousey. “And then once she lost, she started to say to herself, ‘What the [expletive] am I doing? This is my whole life. This is it? I want to experience and start doing other things.’ ”

LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 30: (R-L) Amanda Nunes of Brazil punches Ronda Rousey in their UFC women’s bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 207 event on December 30, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)