Ronda Rousey explains how hostile UFC fans turned her appreciation into resentment: “I’m the greatest fighter that has ever lived”

By Harry Kettle - April 3, 2024

Former UFC star Ronda Rousey has spoken out against the criticism she’s received from mixed martial arts fans over the years.

In recent times, Ronda Rousey has been best known for her work in professional wrestling. Alas, the majority of MMA fans remember her from her iconic stint with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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For a while, she was seen as the most dominant champion in the promotion – and perhaps the entire sport. In the end, though, her career ended on a sour note, courtesy of two big defeats to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.

In a recent interview, Rousey has spoken out against those who have criticized her attitude both during and after her UFC run.

Rousey’s frustration

“I had taken punishment until I couldn’t take it anymore. When it got to the point that I couldn’t take it anymore, I was vilified as ‘She was all hype, she was just lucky.’ People making all these judgements about me in a fight where my first loss, my mouth guard was bad, I literally came into that fight concussed from slipping down some stairs already after all these years of concussions. I had an absolutely terrible weight cut, which means you have less fluid in your brain to protect it.”

She continued, “I was out on my feet for the entire fight. I was trying to make it look like I wasn’t hurt, but I wasn’t there cognitively. I couldn’t think as fast or judge distance. Just from that one fight, everybody felt like, ‘Oh she’s a fraud.’ I know that like I’m the greatest fighter that has ever lived, but when it got to a point that I had taken so much neurological damage that I couldn’t take it anymore, suddenly everything I had accomplished meant nothing.”

She concluded, “Then after the second fight, I saw how all these people I was coming back to fight for had suddenly turned against me. All of my appreciation for them turned to resentment.”

Quotes via MMA Mania

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