After Wrestlemania 34 Debut, Ronda Rousey Happy She Lost Final UFC Fights

Wrestlemania 34 has come and--after seven-plus hours--gone. It featured the in-ring debut of former UFC star Ronda Rousey, who surprised many by putting on one of the night's best matches. Now, reflecting on her journey to this point, she seems quite content with the way her UFC career concluded.

Rousey enjoyed an incredible rise in UFC, only to lose consecutive fights to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. That led to her parting ways with the company and officially signing with WWE, a move which followed an appearance at Wrestlemania 31 in 2015. While those losses were initially hard on her, she now seems glad that things worked out the way they did, telling ESPN, "It was me versus the world in an individual sport. I thought I would never say this, but I'm so happy I lost those fights because it led me here. This is so worth it.

"Everything really does happen for a reason. I'm just so grateful ... time is a great teacher. I'm just really, really glad I gave it time instead of giving up and feeling it was the end of the world. There's so many people who encounter tragedies who feel like the world and time won't heal it. But all I can say to those people is: Just give it time, even if you think time can't heal it. You never know what will happen and where it will lead you. Every missed opportunity is a blessing in disguise. I really believe it now."

Rousey's WWE debut saw her team up with Kurt Angle to take on Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in a mixed tag-team match. While many had expected little from Rousey, or for her to only have a minor role in the match, she ended up having quite the impressive showing. Where her story goes from here remains to be seen, but the start to her wrestling career is certainly a positive one.

If you missed the PPV or skipped part of it (no one could blame you, given how long it was), we've got a full Wrestlemania 34 recap. You can also see every time audience member John Cena was shown on-camera.