Ronda Rousey once again has the attention of the MMA world in 2025 with rumors of a potential comeback and longtime fan – and UFC bantamweight – Luana Santos would absolutely love to see “Rowdy” enter the octagon one last time.
Ready to compete on the final UFC card of the year Saturday when she battles Canada’s Melissa Croden at UFC Vegas 112, Santos looked back at one of the most emotional days of her life when she met Rousey at the Syndicate MMA gym in Las Vegas this past July.
UFC bantamweight contender Jacqueline Cavalcanti was invited by Rousey to a sparring session at the gym and asked Santos if she wanted to tag along and possibly meet the UFC star in person.
“I said, ‘Jacque, for the love of God, I need to be there, I need to watch, I need to see her, I need a picture with her. It’s an opportunity I don’t know if I’ll get again,’” Santos told MMA Fighting. “I was shaking, literally shaking. I kept thinking, I don’t speak English very well, I get by with the basics, but that’s it. I kept rehearsing what I wanted to say to her, but when the time came I couldn’t say anything, I just said, ‘I love you.’ That’s the only thing I managed to say. Guys, I was shaking. I’m not the type of person who says, ‘Oh my God, I’m such a fan.’ There are very few people of who I’d say, ‘Wow, I’m really a fan,’ and Ronda is one of them.”
“I was so happy to see her coming back, to see her training again, sparring with Jacque, seeing her up close, where she trains, her coaches,” she continued. “I was very, very happy. I even have a framed picture in my living room that I got as a gift, and it’s staying there. I felt so fulfilled. I was already watching her when I started MMA, inspired by her. I would say, ‘I want to be famous, I want to do what she did, I want to do movies, I want to win the belt, I want this, I want that.’ She inspired me a lot in the beginning, so I was very happy when I met her.”
It’s still unclear if Rousey will fight again. Even though Santos sees no need for her to put gloves back on, she would understand Rousey’s intention in coming back years after leaving the UFC with back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes after a historically successful MMA career. If that’s the case, Santos suggests a farewell bout with longtime rival Miesha Tate.
“As a fan, I would absolutely love to see her fight again,” Santos said. “As a fan, yes. As an athlete, I think it’s more about putting a final period at the end of her career in a positive way because she left MMA with two crucial losses, getting knocked out. It doesn’t erase—people say, ‘Oh, she left a loser.’ It doesn’t erase everything she did. She will always be the best to me. We have to appreciate everything she did for women’s MMA. But I think it’s a matter of honor.
“I think if she comes back, it will be purely for honor. ‘I’ve finished this cycle, I’ve closed it.’ Put the gloves down in the octagon and be like, ‘I’m retiring for real, that’s it, you won’t see me again.’ Because the way she left, the way she stopped, it was sad. Two losses, getting knocked out. She said she stopped because of concussion issues, anyway… So I think it would be a matter of honor for her to return.”
Santos’ upcoming fight is at bantamweight, a division where she’s unbeaten so far in the UFC, and she’s just glad to enter the octagon again after a cancelled bout in November. Santos saw her original opponent Darya Zheleznyakova pull out and then replacement Melissa Croden also withdrew, postponing their match to Dec. 13.
“I was training for Darya, who wouldn’t throw a single kick in a fight. Then it switched to Melissa, who kicks the whole fight,” Santos said. “It changed, you adjust, but I was able to adapt my game well. Melissa is a very strong girl, a tough girl. It’s not an easy fight, just like none of them are. If you’re in the UFC, you’re not an easy fight. But my game is very well-adjusted and I believe a lot in the power of my hands. Everyone I train with always says I hit really hard.”
Croden has never been finished in MMA, losing a pair of decisions in nine pro bouts, but the Brazilian judoka says there’s a first time for everything in life.
“My ground game is well-suited for MMA, it’s not that berimbolo or pure jiu-jitsu stuff,” Santos said. “I adapted my judo well for MMA so Melissa, everything will have its first time [laughs]. I’m going in there to fight three rounds. If we win by submission, by knockout, damn, that’s great, but I’m going in ready for three rounds. I know it’s going to be a tough fight, but everything in life has a first time. Maybe this will be Melissa’s first.”
“I also have great chances of finishing the fight on the feet,” she continued . “My striking matches well with hers. I have heavy hands, I believe in my hands. Obviously, I like grappling and I always look for grappling because of my judo, but it’s not my only weapon. I’ve been training my striking a lot and sharpening it to be a more complete fighter and take away that idea people have that I always enter just to submit. I’m not going in with that mentality, especially because she’s tough and I don’t know if I’ll take her down that easily. But yes, I believe I also have great chances of finishing the fight standing.”
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