Ronda Rousey hints at retirement after 'cryptic' post

UFC star Ronda Rousey has hinted at a possible retirement after posting a rather 'cryptic' Instagram post earlier this week.

The 36-year-old - who has a bunch of titles to her name including an Olympic medal - is one of the most loved UFC fighters of all time.

It's rather rare to see Rousey lose, with her first WWE loss by submission coming recently in a match against Shayna Baszler in the SummerSlam Saturday in August.

After the match, it was reported that she was apparently leaving WWE for good - though the fighter is still listed on the active rota page on the official WWE website.

Rousey herself also wrote on Instagram after the fight: "@qosbaszler you were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay."

While it was hasn't been officially confirmed that she is heading for retirement, a recent Instagram post certainly suggests that it could be a possibility.

In an Instagram carousel posted on Wednesday (11 October), Rousey could be seen carrying her two-year-old daughter, La'akea Makalapuaokalanipō Browne, as they walked through farmland with some horses in the background.

In the next shot, Rousey can be seen relaxing in the pool with an alcohol beverage seemingly in her hand.

While a third snap saw her posing with her husband, Travis Browne, outside their home with what looks like a rather tasty barbecue on the blowers in the background.

All of the photos were uploaded in black and white, though it is the caption that has grabbed many people's attention.

"Sorry, I couldn’t hear you through my retirement.’ Bernie Lumen." Rousey cryptically captioned the post.

Prior to welcoming her daughter in 2021, she had previously hinted at the possibility of retirement as she wasn't sure what life would be like after welcoming a child.

Speaking on her YouTube channel in 2019, the UFC champ said: "I don’t know what it’s like to have a baby. I could look down at this beautiful child and be like ‘F**k everything, I don’t care about anything else other than this baby.’ You’ll never see me again.

"Or, I could be like my mom [AnnMaria De Mars], who trained while she was eight months pregnant and then won the U.S. Open six weeks after giving birth. Which was unbelievable.

"I don’t think I’m going to try and aspire to her level. But I’m just saying, you never know. I don’t want to make any promises about the future when I don’t know how I’m gonna feel in the future."

Rousey has been spending the last couple of months on mom duty, telling People back in June that her daughter was going to be one 'tough' kid.