Tate: I don’t think Rousey is ‘entirely happy’ with her MMA legacy

Former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate speaks about the MMA legacy left behind by her biggest rival Ronda Rousey.

Ronda Rousey did not exactly exit the sport of MMA in a good light. And in a recent documentary the UFC released for its 25^th anniversary, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion refused to give her own thoughts about the legacy she had left behind.

“How I feel about myself and my own legacy is something precious to me, so you don’t get to hear it, you just get to have your own opinion of my legacy,” she said.

For rival Miesha Tate, such statements were typical for Rousey to say. But at the same time, it is an indication that she may not be satisfied with what she has left behind.

“It’s very Ronda-esque,” Tate said on her SiriusXM radio show (transcript via MMA News). “Look she’s not wrong even though it’s a bit arrogant but I think that’s the style that people have appreciated about Ronda. It’s not necessarily something I appreciate about Ronda but when you talk about her legacy this does sum it up in one quote really.

“It’s that she knows she has value and interest but she also really doesn’t give a sh-t what anybody else wants to hear.

“When I listen to this, she almost sounds emotional. I don’t think she’s entirely happy with her legacy,” she added. “The point that Ronda about us not deserving to hear it and about the vulnerability, I think it speaks again to point that she left the sport worse than she entered in.”

The former champion also pointed how not getting to feel diversity early in her career may be a contributing factor to how Rousey is currently handling the situation.

“I started my career off a loss. I started my career with the humble approach,” she said. “I’m a very open book. I’ve got nothing to hide. I have nothing to hide. I’ve won some, I’ve lost some, I don’t have the need to put myself on a pedestal or not be an open book. I enjoy being transparent because I hope somebody can take something away from my gains and my losses. I’ve lost horribly in front of the entire world and so did Ronda.

“She wants to be the hard Ronda Rousey,” she continued. “The one that was back from 2014 that I always said winning is easy. You don’t have to make any adjustments. You don’t have to make any changes. You’re on top of the world. You’re doing great.

“When you lose, that’s when you see what you’re really made of.”

Rousey last competed in December 2016 at UFC 207, and has so far shown no intentions of coming back. She never made an official retirement announcement, and has since been part of the WWE talent roster. But recently, Rousey says she is uncertain about her sports entertainment career because of her plans to start a family with husband Travis Browne.