Ronda Rousey: ‘I have something close to hate’ for Bryan Caraway

BOSTON — In case you haven’t noticed, Ronda Rousey really doesn’t like Miesha Tate’s boyfriend, UFC bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway.

The UFC women’s bantamweight champion was asked by a fan at TD Garden during a Friday Q & A session whether she hates Tate, with whom she shares The Ultimate Fighter spotlight leading up to their bout on Dec. 28.

Rousey quickly turned the question into a referendum on Caraway, with whom she’s traded barbs in the past.

“Hate is a very strong word,” Rousey said. “I don’t hate her at all. Caraway, I have something close to hate. I have a strong disdain for him. But Miesha, I think most people are an average of the five people you’re around the most and I think he takes up her entire five. She’s a very impressionable and malleable person from what I’ve seen of her.”

Rousey went on to say that Tate has achieved her biggest success in MMA, winning the Strikeforce title, while her boyfriend was away.

“I think she actually won her title when Caraway was off doing TUF or something like that,” Rousey said. “When he’s not around she’s a much nicer person. I kind of feel bad for her because of her situation.”

Later, a fan asked Rousey to play a game of “Kill, marry or armbar,” with Caraway, Tate, and Tito Ortiz as the targets.

“Kill Caraway,” Rousey said. “I’d armbar Tito, and me and Miesha are going to Vegas. Only because Miesha seems like a pushover in a relationship.”

That wasn’t Rousey’s first reference to the former UFC light heavyweight champion-turned-manager-turned Bellator fighter. When asked why a fight with Cris Cyborg hasn’t happened, Rousey gave her stock answer about drug testing, then tossed a zinger Ortiz’s way.

“A couple days after they announced out-of-competition drug testing in the UFC, she announced that she wanted her release,” Rousey said.”They thought the money that was she was offered wasn’t worth it, so she took her release and is now fighting in other promotions. The UFC was going to let her fight in Invicta anyway and pay her purse and everything and make it so easy for her, but that’s what happens when you take on Tito Ortiz as your manager.”

Rousey was asked a variety of questions, from whether she’d want to do TUF again (answer: no), to what was her toughest obstacle along the way to success (answer: the loss of her father), to what sort of pre-fight quirks she might have (answer: a nap once she gets to the arena.)

But Rousey once again demonstrated she never forgets a slight. Rousey was asked by a fan if she was given a choice of going on a date between Cain Velasquez or Junior dos Santos.

“Junior said I’m just regular looking,” Rousey said. “So I’m going with Cain.”

BOSTON — In case you haven’t noticed, Ronda Rousey really doesn’t like Miesha Tate’s boyfriend, UFC bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway.

The UFC women’s bantamweight champion was asked by a fan at TD Garden during a Friday Q & A session whether she hates Tate, with whom she shares The Ultimate Fighter spotlight leading up to their bout on Dec. 28.

Rousey quickly turned the question into a referendum on Caraway, with whom she’s traded barbs in the past.

“Hate is a very strong word,” Rousey said. “I don’t hate her at all. Caraway, I have something close to hate. I have a strong disdain for him. But Miesha, I think most people are an average of the five people you’re around the most and I think he takes up her entire five. She’s a very impressionable and malleable person from what I’ve seen of her.”

Rousey went on to say that Tate has achieved her biggest success in MMA, winning the Strikeforce title, while her boyfriend was away.

“I think she actually won her title when Caraway was off doing TUF or something like that,” Rousey said. “When he’s not around she’s a much nicer person. I kind of feel bad for her because of her situation.”



Later, a fan asked Rousey to play a game of “Kill, marry or armbar,” with Caraway, Tate, and Tito Ortiz as the targets.

“Kill Caraway,” Rousey said. “I’d armbar Tito, and me and Miesha are going to Vegas. Only because Miesha seems like a pushover in a relationship.”

That wasn’t Rousey’s first reference to the former UFC light heavyweight champion-turned-manager-turned Bellator fighter. When asked why a fight with Cris Cyborg hasn’t happened, Rousey gave her stock answer about drug testing, then tossed a zinger Ortiz’s way.

“A couple days after they announced out-of-competition drug testing in the UFC, she announced that she wanted her release,” Rousey said.”They thought the money that was she was offered wasn’t worth it, so she took her release and is now fighting in other promotions. The UFC was going to let her fight in Invicta anyway and pay her purse and everything and make it so easy for her, but that’s what happens when you take on Tito Ortiz as your manager.”

Rousey was asked a variety of questions, from whether she’d want to do TUF again (answer: no), to what was her toughest obstacle along the way to success (answer: the loss of her father), to what sort of pre-fight quirks she might have (answer: a nap once she gets to the arena.)

But Rousey once again demonstrated she never forgets a slight. Rousey was asked by a fan if she was given a choice of going on a date between Cain Velasquez or Junior dos Santos.

“Junior said I’m just regular looking,” Rousey said. “So I’m going with Cain.”