Former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey took a trip down memory lane while appearing on the latest episode of The Hot Ones this week. The women’s MMA pioneer was on Thursday’s episode of the First We Feast YouTube show and discussed how she backed herself during negotiations with the UFC.
“With the UFC I always am very much about betting on myself,” Rousey said. “I care about the back-end. Pay me whatever you think is fair, all I really care about is having some stake in how well this does and I’ll make sure it does really f*cking well.
“I’ve never really cared about money, so I’ve never really had a problem with anybody. Anybody that hires me is like, ‘F*ck yeah,’ I’m not really nickel or diming anybody. I have people that help me out with that stuff – just let me know when I can sign a thing and I’m gonna show up and I’m gonna do f*cking awesome and everyone’s gonna be happy. So far it’s been working out.”
Rousey also reminisced about the time she heard one commentator suggest her arm bar technique was off. The 33-year-old picked up nine of her 12 wins using the submission and didn’t take kindly to someone else critiquing her work.
“A lot of people would teach, ‘Oh, you’re supposed to turn your toes in and squeeze with your knees,’” Rousey said. “Where I always crossed my ankles, would bring my heels into my butt, and open my knees.
“I remember watching the commentary of one of my fights and one of the commentaries was like, ‘She just needs to squeeze her knees a little bit.’ And I’m like, ‘Shut the f*ck up. You don’t even know what you’re talking about. My armbar’s perfect. F*ck you.’” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
Do you think Ronda Rousey will ever return to MMA?