Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones believes Ronda Rousey shouldn't hang up her gloves following her comeback defeat to Amanda Nunes and needs to "stick to fighting".
Rousey returned to the Octagon for the first time in over a year in the hopes of reclaiming the women's bantamweight title she lost to Holly Holm in 2015. Her return lasted less than a minute.
Nunes landed a series of strikes in the opening round of their UFC 207 main event and recorded a TKO victory to retain the title she had won against Miesha Tate at UFC 200.
Speaking to TMZ Sport, Jones explained that the quality of the competitors in the UFC is always increasing and that perhaps fighters in Rousey's division "caught up to her".
"I think the sport is catching up with her talent level and people are realizing that maybe she’s not as good as a striker as she is a ground specialist," he said. "I think Holly Holm kind of laid out a blueprint of how to beat Ronda. It works.
"One of the thing about martial arts, none of us are invincible. I guess the lesson to be learned in Ronda’s situation is to always evolve.
"I think it’d be great to see her come back. I know it would be great to see her come back and I think it would be important for her legacy. To show people her courage and her strength and her resilience."
He added: "I think she needs to stick to fighting. I said in a tweet, I believe that she still beats like 90% of the division. So maybe she’s not going to be the invincible, unbeaten person people thought she was but whether she fights again or not, she’s always going to be an absolute legend."
Amanda Nunes makes light work of the former UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey. Image: John Locher AP/Press Association Images
Jones is still serving a one-year suspension for a doping violation, handed to him by USADA for taking what he claimed was a contaminated sexual-performance pill.
USADA later confirmed that the pill was tainted, but labelled his actions in taking the pill as reckless and Jones was pulled from his main event slot at UFC 200.
Jones tested positive for two banned substances, clomiphene and Letrozol, in an out-of-competition drug test prior to his bout with Daniel Cormier in July.
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