This Saturday will mark the end of Ronda Rousey's nine-plus-year hiatus from mixed martial arts, and if all goes as planned, it will mark her farewell. The 39-year-old is perhaps the greatest female MMA star of all time, and she's giving fans one more show as she will face fellow legendary fighter Gina Carano at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, with the help of Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions. "Yeah, I’m excited. It’s finally, like, super real," Rousey told Fox News Digital. "At first, we were training in secret for, like, a year. It was really more like a year and a half at this point, but at least over a year. And now it’s kind of really bittersweet that it’s coming to an end. I’ve been having such a great time. This camp has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Rousey, the first woman signed by the UFC who became a Hall of Famer in 2018, retired in 2016 after six successful UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship defenses before entering WWE full-time. Rousey’s MMA record got off to a 12-0 start before she lost her final two bouts to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, respectively, and nine of Rousey’s 12 victories came within the first 70 seconds. All but one victory was in the first round. It's no secret that Rousey is out of her prime, but this camp "hasn't felt like a grind at all." "We made joy a priority — actually enjoying the process instead of just hoping enjoyment would come along the way," Rousey said. "Before, everything was so result-oriented. Now, it’s about the process. And once we made that shift, 'Let’s make this as fun as possible,' I started getting better results than ever. I feel better than I ever have, physically and mentally." "I used to be very much in that old-school mentality of, you have to suffer and make yourself miserable in order to be the best you can be. And now it’s like, no, I realize it doesn’t have to be that. I can enjoy this as much as possible, and it makes me the best that I can be. Because I already know that I’m a bada--. I already know that I can dig deep. I’ve already paid all those dues, I’ve done all of those things. So I think just making it fun... good vibes only, it’s all about me, there’s none of this other stuff going on around me, no superfluous noise." So, why come back in the first place? RONDA ROUSEY RETURNING TO FIGHTING AFTER NEARLY 10-YEAR HIATUS: 'THIS IS FOR ALL MMA FANS' "Gina, that’s the reason," she said. "I was sitting nine months pregnant, about to pop, in an office chair. I saw her at a low point, losing her bodily identity and being really unhealthy. And after seeing Mike Tyson come back at nearly (age) 60 and be the most-viewed combat sports event of all time, I knew there was a huge demand out there and that these showcase fights were the future of combat sports. "When I saw where Gina was at, and I looked down at my big belly, where I was at, I was like, ‘You know what? A fight between us would be huge not just for the world, but for each other.’ And I think this is what combat sports needs. This is what we need. And just like she inspired me to do MMA in the first place, she’s the one who inspired me to come back." Rousey said she "promised my husband and swore up and down to my sister" that this is her final fight. Knowing it's a farewell after nearly a decade out, all of the emotions are in play. "That fluttering in the chest, that nervousness, I know that’s what happens when I’m about to do great things. I don’t become afraid of my own anxiety or my own fear, in a way. I wouldn’t even label it like that. I’m not afraid of how my body reacts to those things, because I know that’s what it does before I do something great. I perform above myself when I’m under a huge amount of pressure. So when I feel those symptoms of that pressure, I don’t shy away from it and get scared of it. "It’s more like the launch sequence before the rocket blasts off." As much fun Rousey has had, there is still a goal - winning. Admittedly, "if there’s anyone on this earth who I would be okay with taking my happiness and running around with it, it’s Gina," Rousey said. "Because she’s the only person in women’s MMA that doesn’t owe me a damn thing—and that I owe immensely," she added. "And if this is the only way that I can give back to her—to give her the comeback story of a lifetime—I owe everything, all the prosperity in my life, to her. If that’s the way that it has to go, then that’s the way that it has to go." But it won't be easy. "She’s going to have to pry victory from my cold, dead fingers. Because I want to show her the monster that she created. And I want her to be proud of me," Rousey said. "I want me beating the s--- out of her to actually be the greatest compliment I could ever pay her." Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. View the full article

Streaming giant Netflix’s push into live sports has ranged from the WWE and Formula 1 to select MLB and NFL games. While the initiative has drawn some criticism, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the strategy is not aimed at securing full-season rights packages for any sports league." "We’re not bidding on whole season of sports, including the NFL," Sarandos told Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" on Tuesday. So far, Sarandos' comments have held true with Netflix prioritizing marquee events, including Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson and the New York Yankees' opening-day shutout of the San Fransisco Giants. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Sarandos holding a firm line on the company's stance comes amid ongoing federal scrutiny into NFL, and more broadly, the trend of sports rights growing more fragmented. Some have argued the trend makes its most costly and ultimately difficult for fans to view games. NFL FACES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROBE AFTER FANS EXPRESS FRUSTRATION WITH STREAMING PIVOT: REPORT However, federal scrutiny into sports fragmentation has brought the topic of live sports on streaming services to the forefront. "Remember, most folks are paying for television through pay-television packages that are much more expensive than Netflix," Sarandos said, suggesting that despite being technically free, broadcast networks are most often bundled within paid services. As of May, Netflix’s introductory ad-supported tier starts at $8.99 per month. The standard plan begins at $19.99 per month, while the premium tier starts at $26.99 per month. Prices can increase if subscribers add additional members. The basic plan has been discontinued. "As viewers move a little bit from linear more and more into streaming and on-demand, if the games aren’t there, it seems kind of ridiculous. You don’t run in the opposite direction of the American consumer," Sarandos continued. This fall, Netflix will once again have an exclusive window for a Christmas Day NFL doubleheader while expanding its overall footprint to five games during the 2026 season. The league’s first-ever game in Australia in Week 1 will stream exclusively on Netflix, while a Thanksgiving Eve matchup will also be included in the California-based company’s expanded NFL rights package. "This is something that is great for the consumer because it gives an inexpensive, very affordable way to watch sports, and television, and movies, and kids programming, and podcasts, and play games. All those things for $8.99 is an amazing proposition for consumers," Sarandos said, addressing regulatory scrutiny of sports streaming rights and whether exemptions should apply when non-linear platforms acquire a share of a league’s inventory. "It’s great for the leagues that they have an active competitive base of folks bidding for those games, so that’s valuable. I think it’s an important part to the American success story of the economy, is that you can lean into it and be competitive, and you have to deliver." Amid concerns that only a select number of tech companies could wind up controlling premium entertainment, Sarandos pushed back, arguing, Sarandos countered, arguing, "I’d say people probably said the same thing when pay-television, which most people are probably watching this show on right now, came in and took the place of TV over the antenna. This is kind of a natural evolution of technology and consumer demand." A Fox News poll in March indicated that 72% of sports fans think major sporting events should stay free on broadcast TV, amid reports that the NFL is considering allowing teams to sell the rights to preseason games to streaming services. NFL fans who want access to every game need to purchase YouTube TV for "NFL Sunday Ticket," in addition to the costly subscriptions for all the streaming services the NFL broadcasts on. Those streaming services are Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. The combination of those respective services is over $1,500 a year, and that doesn’t include the fees that come with basic cable packages or high-speed Wi-Fi that is needed to accommodate the platforms. Front Office Sports reported the annual NFL Honors ceremony, which takes place in the days leading up to the Super Bowl in the host city, is expected to move to Netflix beginning in February. The 2027 Super Bowl is scheduled to kick off on Feb. 14 from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. View the full article

Lane Kiffin is no stranger to stirring controversy. The former Ole Miss head coach drew attention again this week after floating a theory about diversity efforts that he claimed at times hindered his ability to recruit players during his tenure at Oxford. In excerpts taken from a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, Kiffin noted that some recruits would tell him, "‘Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’ "That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’ diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.’" CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Kiffin said he does not expect to face similar challenges in his new home, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, saying, "That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’ diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.’" Kiffin did not directly point to inherent challenges to diversity at Ole Miss, nor did he frame the school as uniquely racist in the article. He did, however, suggest he believes its history still shapes national perception. OLE MISS PLAYERS PUSH BACK ON LANE KIFFIN’S CLAIM THAT TEAM ASKED AD TO LET HIM FINISH SEASON WITH REBELS Former ESPN host Sage Steele was a guest on the "Will Cain Country" podcast, hosted by Fox News Channel’s "The Will Cain Show" host Will Cain, on Tuesday and weighed in on the LSU coach’s comments. Cain admitted he had never traveled to Oxford, while Steele spoke about her ties to the campus. "I have not seen the Confederate flags there, it that doesn't mean that it's not there. But I have not seen it. My daughter is a sophomore at Ole Miss." Steele questioned the timing of Kiffin’s remarks, suggesting he raised concerns only after leaving Ole Miss. "I just think it's really fascinating that now he says that," she said. But, you were fine in Oxford all those years. You were fine in Oxford leading into last football season, saying 'It is just so much more than football.' .... it's how the community has embraced him and his family. And he's come such a long way personally. ...And then all of a sudden, they hold your feet to the fire, and no, you can't coach the college football playoff after deciding to leave." Confederate flags were once a common sight at Mississippi football games until the university effectively phased them out in 1997 by banning flagpoles. Until 2003, the school’s mascot, Colonel Reb, reflected its Civil War-era past. The program still uses the "Rebels" nickname and the "Ole Miss" moniker, both tied to the state’s slavery-era history. Kiffin later clarified his comments saying, "I just hope [my comment] comes across respectful to Ole Miss. ... There are some things that I'm saying that are factual, they're not shots." he told On3. "I really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended by that," Kiffin said. "In a four-hour interview, I was asked a lot of questions on a lot of things, and Ole Miss has been wonderful to me and to my family. I was asked questions about the differences in recruiting, and I said a narrative that we battled there from some out-of-state Black parents and grandparents was not wanting their kid to move to Mississippi. That's a narrative that coaches have been fighting forever. It wasn't calculated by bringing it up." Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. View the full article

President Donald Trump said Americans' financial situation was "not even a little bit" of a motivating factor for him reaching a deal to end the war in Iran.View the full article

Reese Hogan would have a very different set of medals if the rules were different in California. It's her third straight year competing against a trans athlete in the California girls' track and field state tournament. She would have taken first place in the high jump all to herself in the sectional preliminaries last Saturday, if only biological females were allowed to compete. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Now she'll compete against a trans athlete in the sectional finals this weekend, representing her Christian high school, Crean Lutheran. It will mark one year since she went viral on social media for stepping up from the second-place spot on a medal podium up to first place, after a trans athlete who took first place stepped off. "This is my third year competing against a transgender athlete, and last year I was stripped away of a CIF Title, and I basically worked my whole career to get to that point," Hogan said on "Fox News at Night" on Tuesday. "It's just really dissapointing to go into a competition knowing you already lost." CALIFORNIA TRACK ATHLETE BRIEFLY POSES ON 1ST-PLACE PODIUM AFTER LOSING TO TRANS ATHLETE, RECEIVES PRAISE Her Crean Lutheran teammate, Olivia Viola, has been right there with Hogan throughout the three years of competition against trans athletes. "I haven't heard nearly enough adults come out and say anything. A lot of them like to say that they agree with you, that they're proud of you for speaking up now, but they won't do it themselves," Viola said. "Just because it doesn't affect every adult out there doesn't mean it's not worth standing up for." California has legally allowed biological males to compete in girls' sports since a state law was enacted in 2013. The state's education agencies are engaged in a federal Title IX lawsuit with President Donald Trump's administration for commitment to upholding that state law. A source at Governor Gavin Newsom's office previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital in response to news that a "Save Girls Sports" rally, which the two girls attended, would be held at last Saturday's meet. "The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids. The Governor’s position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies," the statement read. "California is one of 22 states that have laws requiring students be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school sports consistent with their gender identity. California passed this law in 2013 (AB 1266) and it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown." At the rally, Hogan spoke and fired back at Newsom's office for the statement. "The recent statements coming from Governor Gavin Newsom's office have made it clear that there is no intention of creating a safe, fair, and equitable environment for female high school athletes. Him and his office have gone as far as calling young girls bullies for speaking up for what we believe in," Hogan said. "The governor himself has admitted that males competing in women's sports is unfair, yet nothing is being done to protect girls who train every day to compete on a level playing field." CALIFORNIA ATHLETE SAYS SHE CHANGES CLOTHES IN HER CAR TO AVOID SHARING A LOCKER ROOM WITH TRANS ATHLETE Viola also rejected the "bully" assertion in Tuesday's interview. "I think his statement is manipulative, and it's just completely untrue," Viola said. "He's saying stand up for all kids, yet he's essentially trying to silence us... these girls are not bullies. They make a point, we all make an point to say we are not against any individual athlete, we are against California's policies," Viola said. "We believe athletes deserve dignity and respect, and that's why we believe women deserve the dignity of having their own category." Both Viola and Hogan will compete at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Final on Saturday in Moorpark, California. And just like last year, there will be a podium ceremony after the competitions. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. View the full article