Ronda Rousey 'Genuinely Excited' After Making Switch From UFC To WWE

Ronda Rousey admitted that she is "genuinely excited for the future" after officially making the switch from the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) to the WWE earlier this year.

The former UFC champion will make her ring debut at WWE’s premier event WrestleMania 34 on 2018 after recently signing a contract on the company’s flagship show Monday Night Raw. She will team up with former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle and take on a team of Stephanie McMahon and Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, who are WWE’s chief brand officer and executive vice-president of talent and creative respectively.

Rousey is a former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, but has not fought in the octagon since her loss to Amanda Nunes in December 2016. The 31-year-old could not contain her excitement when talking about the start of a new adventure in WWE.

The former UFC fighter revealed that it was a different feeling walking out to the ring in the WWE compared to the octagon. Rousey, known for her mean looks in the Ultimate Fighting arena, cut a happier figure when she made her second appearance in WWE at the end of the history-making first all-women’s Royal Rumble match in January.

“The most fun part is not knowing what's going to happen and to turn up to events without that pit of dread in my stomach," Rousey told Sky Sports.

"Instead there's a tingle of excitement and that's a big change for me. I don't normally walk into arenas smiling and it's really weird but it's a great experience.

"I'm genuinely excited for the future and I'm really looking forward to what might happen,” she explained.

Rousey has already caused a stir in WWE, first putting Triple H through a table during the contract signing and then putting the Samoa drop on Stephanie. The California native is eager to impress when her opportunity arrives at WrestleMania in April.

The American labeled her arrival in the WWE as a dream come true and vowed to give it her best in order to repay the hierarchy for the chance to join the wrestling franchise.

“There's a lot on the line but I feel like if anybody in the world is capable of handling it, it's me," the former UFC champion said. "I am just so lucky to have this opportunity that it would be a slap in the face for everybody who has given it to me to not give it every single ounce of effort that I have in me.

"That's all I can do. The best I can do is the best I can do and so I'm going to give it all that I've got. I've got faith that it will be great and that we will exceed expectations.

"It really is a dream come true. I'm so grateful to have been given this amazing experience. It's hard to think that I deserve it, even, but I'm giving it absolutely everything,” Rousey added.