The former bantamweight champion continued:

“Returning to not just fighting, but winning, was my entire focus this past year. However, sometimes — even when you prepare and give everything you have and want something so badly — it doesn’t work how you planned. I take pride in seeing how far the women’s division has come in the UFC and commend all the other women who have been part of making this possible, including Amanda. “I need to take some time to reflect and think about the future. Thank you for believing in me and understanding.”

Rousey refused to participate in what are usually required promotional events with the media in the lead-up to UFC 207, her first fight in more than a year after she lost her title to Holly Holm at UFC 193 last November. Following Friday’s upset, Rousey left Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena without participating in the post-fight press conference.

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Rousey’s media silence earned her criticism from many, including Nunes, who called Rousey’s decision to sit out of media events “a very bad mistake” at the post-fight press conference.

Before Rousey provided her statement to ESPN, however, Rousey’s mother AnnMaria De Mars penned an essay attempting to explain her daughter’s actions after the loss.

“All of those who have criticized Ronda for taking a loss so to heart, for not just ‘shrugging it off’ don’t understand that what made Ronda so successful is that she cares DEEPLY about winning to an extent that I don’t believe the average person can wrap his/her head around,” De Mars wrote on her blog.

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One fan who appears to get it, though, is Kobe Bryant.

The retired NBA star suggested Rousey’s haters take a new look at the bigger picture surrounding the controversial star and recognize that she helped put women’s MMA “on the map.”

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While Rousey wasn’t the first woman to participate in the sport, she did carry the UFC’s women’s division since she became the first female fighter to sign with the promotion in November 2012. Already holding the Strikeforce championship, Rousey became UFC’s first women’s bantamweight champ in February 2013 and held onto the title until her surprise upset against Holly Holm at UFC 193. Along the way, she shot to superstardom, landing roles in three films, “The Expendables 3,” “Entourage” and “Furious 7.”

Rousey left her future with the sport open to speculation in her statement to ESPN on Saturday, an many insiders have speculated she will step away from the sport altogether to concentrate on her budding film career. Ahead of UFC 207, Rousey herself had said it would be one of her last fights.

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Fellow UFC fighter Jon Jones, however, thinks Rousey shouldn’t quit. In a series of tweets on Saturday, he suggested she “try again” because it’s “important for Ronda to show her fans how great she truly is by displaying her courage” to give it another go.

Jones added that if she returns again and it still doesn’t go as planned, she’d still be a a champion, but that her decision to stick with MMA or not will “determine her legacy.”

“Her story doesn’t have to be over here,” he added, noting that if she does come back, she might want to seek out a different training program.