In the past year, Ronda Rousey has transformed herself from a seemingly retired MMA fighter, to a WWE superstar. Yet, despite the new career, MMA is always going to be with her, as she played a big part in helping the sport become as big as it is today, especially for women.

Rousey's MMA career began strongly as she became the face of women's side of the sport 12 consecutive wins, almost all of which came in the first round. She quickly became UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion and one of the biggest stars in UFC.

Her most recent fights, however, have not gone the way she would have liked, as she lost her last two fights to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November 2013, and Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 a year later.

When asked during a recent interview with ESPN if she had fallen out of love with MMA by this point, Rousey revealed that she felt a responsibility to stick around and compete whether she desired to or not.

She wasn't sure if the women's UFC division could survive without her, but at the same time, she wanted 'an honorable way out'.

She said, according to MMA Fighting: “There was a while when I was just looking for an honorable way out.

"I felt satisfied, like I proved everything I needed to prove, but I didn’t feel like anybody else felt that way, and I wasn’t sure that the women’s division could survive without me. So I felt obligated to do more than what I actually wanted to, I feel.

“But I also think that everything happens for a reason and I have no regrets, and I’m still happy that I fulfilled those obligations. I really do feel like the women’s division can hold its own now and I’m proud of all the work I did there. I don’t need anyone else’s approval to be proud of myself.”

When Rousey was asked why only now has she decided to step back into the spotlight and work with the WWE, she said it was simply getting the opportunity to do something else that she loved. If WWE had not come along, the loss to Nunes might have been the last anyone saw her and that would have been fine for her.

She said: “Honestly, it wasn’t that I missed it. I could very happily be in some house in the mountains somewhere and never see anybody again, and just hang out with my goats and chickens and be happy. It would only have to be something as great as the WWE, it makes me this happy, to actually pull me away from that.

”Otherwise, probably no one would hear from me. I would live in the woods and be happy. It’s all I really want.”

It's still slightly strange to have an MMA world without Rousey, and many believe she will come back to the sport to have one more fight with UFC before she officially retires from the sport for good in order to end her MMA career the way she would like to.