Ronda Rousey will not return for at least seven months as Dana White confirms she won't fight at UFC 200

Ronda Rousey will be out of action in the UFC for at least another seven months after president Dana White confirmed she will no fight at UFC 200 in July, with women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm set to fight fellow American Miesha Tate in the co-main event at UFC 197 in March.

As if the champion vs champion main event bout between Conor McGregor and Rafael dos Anjos was not enough, Holm will defend her title against Tate in her first defence since brutally knocking out Rousey at UFC 193.

Few were expecting Holm’s first title defence to be named on the same card, but the champion will face 29-year-old American Tate to end any chance of an immediate rematch with Rousey. White’s initial plan was to keep Holm in waiting in a bid to have a rematch with Rousey at UFC 200, but once it became apparent that the 28-year-old would not return, White immediately sanctioned Holm to fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in two months’ time.

In fact, Rousey will not return to the Octagon anytime soon. The former undefeated champion, who picked up the first loss of her MMA career in the Melbourne showcase in November, is committed to her next film Roadhouse for the first half of 2016. That led initial rumours that Rousey could return to try and win back her belt at UFC 200 in July, but White confirmed that this is not a possibility due to her big screen duties.

"The filming of the movie got pushed back," White said. "She could do both, but the question is, should she do both? She could do both, but why should she? The filming is in a time frame where she'd finish before [UFC] 200, but it would be cutting it too close."

Once Rousey does return to training, she’ll need a lot of it. Holm completely outclassed Rousey with a display of clever boxing and accurate counter-attacking, before knocking her opponent out with a roundhouse kick to the neck.

Rousey required plastic surgery on her lip following the bout after taking a barrage of shots to the face, and she admitted weeks afterwards that she was not able to eat due to the injuries she sustained.

However, Rousey will definitely get her rematch if she wants it – providing Holm comes through her match with Tate – after White confirmed that she deserves time away from the sport more than anyone else in the company.

"The way I look at this one is, Ronda has worked her ass off for us for the last three years," White said. "She's been fighting, promoting and building the sport. If anyone deserves the time off, it's her. The night [of UFC 193] Holly said she'd do the rematch and that Ronda deserved it and everything else. So we were holding it for her if she wanted to do it.

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"What that woman has done is above and beyond what anyone has done. I mean, it's just unbelievable what she's done in the last three years. Anything we needed, she didn't say no to anything; said no to nothing. She even took over responsibilities somebody else was supposed to have. So when she tells me she wants more time, you know what? She's got it."