SNL gets rowdy and locks down UFC star Ronda Rousey for guest-hosting gig

While stepping into the octagon with “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey would surely be intimidating, hosting a live skit comedy show for millions of viewers might be a bit nerve-wracking even for her. We’ll see if one of the UFC’s biggest names has the mettle for the latter on January 23, 2016.

According to ScreenCrush, the fighter will try her hand at comedy when she hosts Saturday Night Live later this month. Rousey will follow Adam Driver (AKA – Kylo Ren) — who will ring in the New Year for SNL on January 16, 2016 — and who will be joined by musical guest Selena Gomez.

The news comes by way of Twitter, as SNL’s official account tweeted the image below earlier this morning, which also confirms country singer Chris Stapleton as the musical guest for the January 16 show.

Excited to kick off 2016 with Adam Driver, @ChrisStapleton, @RondaRousey and @selenagomez! #SNL pic.twitter.com/J346nqL81z

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) January 5, 2016

Though she is best known for her skills as a mixed martial artist, Rousey’s acting resume is nothing to sneeze at. She’s had substantial roles in Furious 7, The Expendables 3, and Entourage (the movie) and will reportedly star in Nick Cassavetes’ upcoming Road House remake as well.

It will be interesting to see if SNL has her kicking a** and taking names during the appearance, or stepping outside of the tough chick role that we’ve grown used to seeing her play. Seeing her as a wimp might be fun.

Those who follow Rousey’s fighting career will remember that she recently lost the women’s bantamweight title in a surprise defeat at the hands of Holly Holm. Since then, she has remained largely out of the public eye, so her SNL appearance will be something of a reintroduction to the world. Hopefully she’s ready to crack a few jokes about the kick to the head that KO’d her, but maybe it’s still too soon.

Either way, she’ll make for an interesting host and SNL has secured another big name as it looks to start 2016 with a bang.