Ronda Rousey bolts out of raucous MSG crowd after staredown

Ronda Rousey made a surprise appearance Friday following the UFC 205 weigh-in at Madison Square Garden. Seconds after champion Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor weighed in successfully, a preview for UFC 207 that is set for Dec. 30 in Las Vegas played on the video boards in the arena.

Rousey then came out on stage to a large reaction of mostly cheers mixed with a few boos. When her opponent, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, came out, the two posed for a photo and Rousey leaned in aggressively toward Nunes.

UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan then went to do interviews with the fighters. During the UFC 205 weigh-in, he interviewed all six participants in the title fights, champions Alvarez, Tyron Woodley and Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challengers McGregor, Stephen Thompson and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Nunes granted an interview, but as Rogan began to speak to Nunes, Rousey bolted the stage. UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports via text message that it was an error on the production team’s part. No interviews were planned for Rousey or Nunes, he said.

Ronda Rousey (L) squares off with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes Friday at Madison Square Garden. They will meet for the title on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas. (Getty Images)

Rousey has largely been silent since her loss nearly a year ago at UFC 193 to Holly Holm in Melbourne, Australia.

UFC officials have been unable to explain her reluctance to speak. White said last month that Rousey felt the media turned on her after her loss to Holm.

Obviously, her fans are interested in what she has to say given the changes in her life in the last year. She hasn’t discussed her loss and where she felt she went wrong against Holm. Nor has she expanded on her comment to DeGeneres that she’s near the end of her career.

White insisted that her failure to speak Friday was not her fault and that all that was planned was a stare-down for the photographers and a walk-off.

For most of her career, Rousey has not only been one of the sport’s best interview subjects, but also one of the most accessible. That’s clearly changed.