Ali Akbar Rosady
Ronda Rousey, the former UFC Bantamweight Champion and a pioneer of women’s mixed martial arts, has engaged in a series of sharp verbal exchanges with fellow fighters Khamzat Chimaev and Kayla Harrison as she prepares for her highly anticipated return to combat sports. The incendiary comments emerged during the lead-up to her bout against fellow MMA legend Gina Carano, marking Rousey’s first competitive appearance in nearly a decade. While Rousey maintained a respectful tone towards her upcoming opponent, her responses to other recent critics were notably unreserved, reigniting old debates and sparking new controversies within the combat sports community.
The initial catalyst for Rousey’s latest pronouncements was criticism from Khamzat Chimaev, the formidable Chechen-Swedish middleweight contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Chimaev, known for his aggressive, wrestling-dominant fighting style and an impressive professional record of 13 wins and 0 losses (prior to his fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 in October 2023, which he won by majority decision), had taken exception to Rousey’s earlier remarks concerning the UFC’s treatment of its athletes. Rousey had previously suggested that the organization, under its current ownership, did not adequately compensate or respect its fighters, a stance she articulated as part of her promotional efforts for the Carano fight.
Chimaev, in a video posted on his YouTube channel, challenged Rousey’s perspective directly. "There never would have been Ronda Rousey without the UFC," Chimaev stated, implying that her success was inextricably linked to the platform provided by the promotion. He further questioned the financial motives behind her criticism, asking, "If they pay good or they don’t pay good, who cares? When she was Olympic champ, what did she make then?" This comment referenced Rousey’s earlier career as an Olympic judoka, where financial rewards are typically far less substantial than in professional combat sports. Chimaev’s remarks positioned him as a staunch defender of the UFC, an organization that elevated Rousey to global stardom.
Rousey, who had publicly promised to address Chimaev’s comments, wasted no time in delivering a scathing retort during a pre-fight press conference on Thursday. She began by clarifying her allegiance, drawing a distinct line between the UFC’s original founders and its current corporate structure. "I would want to make something abundantly clear, and that’s I owe Dana [White] and the Fertitta’s immensely," Rousey asserted, referring to former UFC President Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, Lorenzo and Frank, who owned Zuffa LLC, the parent company that previously owned the UFC. "I would be caught dead before you ever heard me say a bad thing about any of them. But my loyalty is to them and not the company that they sold. I do not owe TKO’s UFC a damn thing." This statement highlighted Rousey’s perception of a fundamental shift in the organization’s ethos since its acquisition by Endeavor, which subsequently formed the TKO Group Holdings after merging the UFC with WWE.
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Following this clarification, Rousey launched into a deeply personal and aggressive attack on Chimaev. "Fcking cleft-lip Lincoln is just hating because at his press conference for his fight, people are asking about me and my fight because no one gives a shit about his ineffectual wrestle-fck fests," she declared, employing a derogatory slur to refer to Chimaev. The "cleft-lip" reference targeted a facial feature resulting from a childhood injury Chimaev sustained, a highly controversial and widely condemned personal attack. Rousey further dismissed Chimaev’s fighting style, characterizing his bouts as "ineffectual wrestle-f*ck fests" and contrasting them with her own combat record. "People actually can’t stop talking about this fight because it’s so stacked and they’re actually excited to see me fight because unlike Kumquat, I have a 100% finish rate." This comment not only distorted Chimaev’s name but also exaggerated Rousey’s past UFC record, where she had 12 wins and 2 losses, with all 12 wins coming via finish (9 submissions, 3 knockouts). While Chimaev does have a high finish rate, his fighting style often involves extended grappling exchanges, which Rousey seemingly disparaged.
Beyond Chimaev’s criticism, Rousey also addressed an ongoing verbal dispute with former teammate and current UFC women’s bantamweight contender Kayla Harrison. Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo and a dominant force in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) where she achieved an undefeated record of 16-0 before signing with the UFC, had previously voiced her skepticism about the significance of the Rousey-Carano matchup. Harrison’s comments came during a recent UFC broadcast, following Rousey’s appearance at a separate press conference in New York.
"This fight is not the greatest fight of all time," Harrison had stated, dismissing the hype surrounding the veteran matchup. "It’s between someone who hasn’t fought in 10 years and is coming off two knockout losses and another woman, again another legend, another pioneer, but hasn’t fought in 17 years and is in her 40s." Harrison’s assessment was blunt, directly referencing Rousey’s last two professional losses—consecutive knockout defeats to Holly Holm in 2015 and Amanda Nunes in 2016—and Carano’s extended absence from competition since 2009. Harrison further distinguished her own career motivations from Rousey’s perceived goals: "Don’t call it the greatest fight of all time. I’m chasing greatness. You’re chasing money. We’re different." Harrison herself is currently recovering from neck surgery and is slated for a high-profile UFC debut against the reigning two-division champion and widely considered greatest female fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, later this year. The impending Nunes-Harrison bout adds another layer to the "greatness" debate, given Nunes’s definitive victory over Rousey in 2016, which effectively sent Rousey into retirement from MMA.
Rousey, a UFC Hall of Famer, scoffed at Harrison’s insinuation that she was merely "chasing money." She countered Harrison’s definition of "greatness" by emphasizing historical impact, cultural influence, and financial milestones within professional fighting. "I would say that this is professional fighting," Rousey stated in response to Harrison. "There’s no such thing as discount greatness in professional fighting. The biggest money fight is the biggest fight, period. We obviously have very different definitions of greatness. Mine is making history, having a cultural impact and influencing the future of the sport."
Rousey then elaborated on her extensive list of past accomplishments, highlighting her eight consecutive title defenses during her UFC reign as evidence that her competitive legacy is already secured. "I’ve already won a record eight consecutive title fights. There’s nothing left for me to do there." With her individual competitive achievements already cemented, Rousey explained that her current focus with the Carano fight is to transcend traditional metrics and redefine success in women’s combat sports. "So now me and Gina are smashing the record for the most women have ever been paid in combat sports and who says we can’t parlay the success of this to me and her making a genre shattering martial arts film for Netflix after this."
This ambitious vision extends beyond a single fight or film project. Rousey articulated a broader goal of leveraging the high-profile nature of her return to create a paradigm shift within the sport. "Who says the success of this fight can’t create the rival that the UFC needs and give fighters the bargaining power that they’ve never had?" she questioned, hinting at the potential for alternative platforms to challenge the UFC’s near-monopoly and improve fighter compensation. She specifically referenced the involvement of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), co-founded by boxing sensation Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, which is promoting the event. Paul and Bidarian have openly expressed their long-term interest in MMA, contingent on the success of this inaugural event.
Rousey’s statement underscored her belief that this event could serve as a blueprint for a new era of fighter empowerment. "Hell, if we knock this out of the park, I could become the face of MVP MMA and the most powerful figure in this sport since Dana." She concluded her impassioned defense with a defiant declaration: "I’m not chasing greatness? Motherf*cker, I am greatness. These bitches are chasing me!"
Rousey’s re-entry into the combat sports landscape is proving to be as impactful and controversial as her initial rise to prominence. Her verbal clashes with Chimaev and Harrison not only intensify the spotlight on her upcoming fight with Gina Carano but also highlight deeper discussions within the sport regarding fighter loyalty, compensation, and the evolving definitions of legacy and greatness in an era of diversified platforms and burgeoning athlete empowerment movements. The outcome of her fight with Carano, and the subsequent reception, could indeed shape not just Rousey’s narrative but potentially the future trajectory of women’s combat sports and fighter economics.
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