Ronda Rousey has ditched UFC for WWE.
Once the most dangerous women in MMA, Rousey officially made the anticipated jump to WWE on Sunday night with a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia.
The former UFC bantamweight champion also told ESPN that she's fully committed to wrestling and not just planning cameos at WWE's biggest events.
"This is my life now. Yeah, they have first priority on my time for the next several years," she said. "This is not a smash and grab, this is not a publicity stunt."
Rousey appeared to roaring fans in Philadelphia, and pointed to a WrestleMania sign - scheduled for New Orleans in April - as Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" blared through the arena.
Rousey smiled when Royal Rumble winner Asuka slapped her hand away on an offer for a handshake. Rousey left the ring and walked over to WWE executive and Royal Rumble commentator Stephanie McMahon. Rousey shook hands with McMahon and left without saying a word. She slapped hands with fans at ringside.
Rousey fed into the surprise with a little misdirection before one of wrestling's biggest pay-per-view events of the year.
Before getting in the ring, she had ruled out an appearance at the Royal Rumble in an interview and even posted an Instagram video over the weekend of herself in Colombia enjoying a night out with the crew filming her latest movie, the action thriller "Mile 22" with Mark Wahlberg and John Malkovich.
Still, she had frequently met with WWE executive Paul Levesque, better known as wrestling superstar Triple H, to discuss her interest in a deal that finally came to fruition.
She has not fought since she suffered a 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December 2016.
Rousey (12-2) lost two straight bouts in 13 months and took a break to extend her entertainment credits.
It's unclear whether Rousey plans to fully give up on the UFC and mixed martial arts, and she would not commit to saying she's retired when asked directly by ESPN.
"That's what everybody else seems to say - I mean, I never retired from judo. So that's what you guys want to think," she said. "All I know is I really want to devote 100 per cent of my time to wrestling right now and whatever people want to call that they can call it."
UFC president Dana White said Rousey will never fight again for the company, and Rousey said she hasn't followed MMA in the past year.
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