MANILA, Philippines – Although she suffered a devastating knockout loss at the hands of Holly Holm two months ago, Ronda Rousey remains to be a darling in all media platforms.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star has been tapped to host the January 23 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live in New York.
The American late-night television comedy program made the announcement via Twitter on Wednesday, January 6.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Excited to kick off 2016 with Adam Driver, <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisStapleton">@ChrisStapleton</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/RondaRousey">@RondaRousey</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/selenagomez">@selenagomez</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNL?src=hash">#SNL</a> <a href="https://t.co/J346nqL81z">pic.twitter.com/J346nqL81z</a></p>— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/684405430261559300">January 5, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Saturday Night Live, which debuted on NBC in October 1975, had high-profile athletes as hosts in the past, including 6-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, former boxing heavyweight champion George Foreman, and two-time NFL MVP Tom Brady.
“Beyond excited, nervous [and] honored to host NBC’s SNL on January 23rd. Hopefully, you'll be watching and laughing either at or with me that night,” Rousey wrote in her Instagram post.
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BALGGEHBEUQ/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Beyond excited/nervous/honored to host @nbcsnl #jan23rd hopefully you'll be watching and laughing either at or with me that night</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-01-05T22:01:09+00:00">Jan 5, 2016 at 2:01pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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Aside from her stint as host of Saturday Night Live, Rousey will also be on the cover of EA Sports’ “UFC 2” along with UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
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Rousey became the first female fighter to sign a multi-fight contract with the UFC and successfully defended the women’s bantamweight championship 6 times before yielding to Holm in November 2015.
Holm knocked out Rousey with a left head kick and polished her off with follow-up shots on the ground to compel referee Herb Dean to intervene at the 59-second mark of round two.
The 28-year-old native of Santa Monica, California is likely to receive an immediate title shot when she returns to the Octagon following a 6-month medical suspension. – Rappler.com