Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has claimed she has been “vilified” by the mixed martial arts media, citing their less than “welcoming nature” as the reason she has not attended a UFC event since her own final appearance in the promotion back in 2016.
Rousey, a former undisputed bantamweight champion under the banner of the organization and the first gold holder in the division, bowed out of the sport following a second consecutive defeat back in 2016, after an illustrious career atop the 135lbs weight class.
Returning from an hellacious second round high-kick KO loss to Holly Holm, Riverside native, Rousey headlined UFC 207 in 2016, suffering a blistering opening round technical knockout defeat to former two-division champion, Amanda Nunes.
And since receiving a Hall of Fame induction in the Modern Wing back in 2018, Rousey has been continually linked with a return to the UFC for a blockbuster comeback fight, particularly following her exit from the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) at the tail end of last year.
Sharing how a slew of concussions and other neurological issues forced her to call time on her career, Rousey voiced her displeasure with the media, claiming she has never been perceived as the greatest fighter of all-time – in which her own opinion she is.
Ronda Rousey again takes aim at MMA media
Furthermore, Rousey claimed the media’s decision to “vilify” her has resulted in her own respective decision to skirt UFC events as an attendee.
“They were the ones saying it,” Ronda Rousey told during an appearance on the High Performance podcast. “That I was a fraud and I was hype and I was exposed and I was never anything and just luck and all of these things. And that I wasn’t gracious or a good loser, or you know, every other thing. I feel like I’m really vilified by MMA media at this point and I’m not really welcomed back, which is why I haven’t gone to a UFC fight since, ‘cause I’m pretty sure if I walked into the arena, I’d be booed. That’s how it feels.”
“A lot of people don’t give everything that they have because they don’t wan to face it if it wasn’t enough but I realized it was enough for me but not foe people on the outside,” Ronda Rousey explained. “But it really wasn’t for them.”
What are your thoughts on Ronda Rousey’s latest comments?