Ronda Rousey is still at odds with “bandwagon” UFC fans.
The former women’s bantamweight champion, who recently entered the promotion’s hall of fame, is probably the most influential female fighter in the history of MMA. Women were not welcome inside the Octagon before “Rowdy” and the Olympian’s mainstream appeal helped Dana White and Co. reach new heights both stateside and abroad.
How big was Rousey? At one point even bigger than both Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar.
But Rousey faced criticism late
in her career for her increasingly-caustic remarks, particularly in the wake of back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. At the first sign of adversity, “Rowdy” chose to retire from competition, comfortably resting on her laurels, while also insisting she was the greatest fighter who ever lived. Statistically speaking, she wasn’t even the greatest fighter in her division.
Perhaps she could have been, had she stuck around and followed this advice.
It also didn’t help that Rousey was routinely bashing the very machine that made her famous, and comments like this didn’t sit well with combat sports fans. You can’t claim to be the baddest fighter on the block, then run through the airport with a pillow over your face the second you stumble on the big stage. As far as the fair-weather fandom; well, all I can say is welcome to the wide world of sports.
The bigger the star, the bigger the scrutiny.
“MMA fans and media are the most ‘what have you done lately for us’ crowd of any sport,” Rousey told Bert Kreischer on his podcast (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “You look at WWE and they have such a reverence for their legends. In MMA, it’s like the second that you’re not on top, you’re not sh*t and you never were sh*t. Chuck Liddell, when he’s on top, ‘He’s the best, he’s the best.’ The second that he loses, ‘Oh Chuck Liddell ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t. Anderson Silva, oh my God he was almost like a mythical creature for a while. He was like this ninja, and he would hypnotize everyone in front of him. The second he loses, ‘Anderson ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t.’ Fedor Emelianenko, one of the greatest ever. The second he loses, ‘Fedor ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t.’”
So why is former UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, still held in such high regard?
“I think the only reason why MMA fans have their lips so firmly planted at the base of Khabib’s c*ck is because he retired before he reached his limit,” Rousey (12-2) said. “If he kept fighting until he reached his limit, everybody would be ‘Khabib ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t’. They’re like that with everybody. Name one person. ‘Brock [Lesnar] ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t.’ Name one past champion that has the kind of respect that the current champions do. It’s really sad because I think it encourages people to get out while they’re peaking and leaving and taking all of that equity with them instead of passing it on to whoever’s next to take up the mantle.”
Rousey, 38, has been loosely linked to a UFC White House comeback in June 2026.
