WWE wants Ronda Rousey in exchange for Brock Lesnar
By David Rouben
The WWE is hoping to land Ronda Rousey a match at WrestleMania 33 in exchange for giving Brock Lesnar a chance to compete at UFC 200.
When Brock Lesnar was given a chance to compete at UFC 200, it came as a real shock, especially since he’s still under contract with the WWE. As it turns out, the two promotions were able to work out a deal where Lesnar could compete in a one-off fight before returning for SummerSlam.
However, Lesnar has hinted that he could come back for more than one fight, and it’s not as if the WWE is willing to give away one of their promotion’s biggest stars. The UFC will help promote SummerSlam, although there are already reports suggesting that some fighters could be performing there as well.
But for as much as Paige VanZant has raised her status, she’s still not close to being on Brock’s level of stardom. That’s why, according to Forbes, the WWE is swinging for the fences and trying to leverage a deal that would send Ronda Rousey, the UFC’s biggest star, to compete at WrestleMania 33.
Such a deal would likely be similar to what Brock is doing currently, in that he’s able to compete for another promotion while still under contract. But if Lesnar is tempted to stay with the UFC beyond UFC 200, they could use Rousey to gain more leverage out of this.
The UFC may very well agree to this deal since Rousey has already appeared on a WrestleMania, back at 31 when she and The Rock teamed up briefly, but this time, it would be for a full match and would get heavily promoted.
While Rousey hasn’t fought since November of last year, the UFC knows it would only be good for their company if they had their biggest star competing at a flagship event such as WrestleMania, just like how the WWE can only benefit from Lesnar’s appearance at UFC 200.
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However, such a deal would raise serious questions about Rousey’s future in MMA. The longer she holds off her return to the UFC, the more she’ll get compared to Gina Carano. Only she knows what’s in store for her future, though, and this will be a fascinating story to follow in the coming weeks.