During her time in UFC Ronda Rousey rose to become the most famous female fighter in history. Her notoriety transcended the octagon, and took her crashing into the American mainstream, even if she didn’t always see eye-to-eye with UFC fans.
During one of her ‘Baddest Stream On The Planet’ Livestreams, Rousey hit out at fans for having a lock of respect for veterans and legends of the cage, explaining that WWE fans have greater reverence for their heroes.
Ronda Rousey Hits Out At UFC Fans
“I would say that the WWE fans care more about the wrestlers than the UFC fans care more about the fighters. UFC fans have much less respect for the veterans and legends of the sport than WWE fans do. A lot of UFC fans are kind of like bandwagon fans in that way. The second you’re not on top, you’re dead to them.”
Ronda Rousey went on to contrast the difference between the two fanbases when it comes to discussing legends of the sport from previous generations.
“Where WWE fans are like, ‘this is the guy that did this 20 years ago’ and are still really excited whereas UFC fans now are like, ‘Forrest Griffin sucks.’ Uhh, you owe basically the whole sport to him. Shit like that. ‘Anderson Silva sucks. GSP [Georges St-Pierre] sucks.’ These are people that elevated the sport and paved the way for everybody else.
I don’t see UFC fans having the same respect for people that got the sport to where it is as WWE fans. I’m not saying it’s completely absent, I’m just saying I see more respect for legends in WWE fans than UFC fans. There are exceptions to everything,”
This is perhaps fuelled by Ronda Rousey’s harsh treatment amongst MMA fans following he two back to back defeats via KO to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. Although the only two defeats of her MMA run, they signalled the end of her career. After the sheer wave of negativity she received, Rousey became tired of the MMA fans who seemed to be far less tolerant of inevitable career turbulence than their pro wrestling counter parts.
Despite Rousey being heavily criticised by fans and the media at large, it can never take away from her trailblazing run in the UFC. Prior to Ronda, women were not able compete in the UFC, with President Dana White previously saying on many occasions that he wouldn’t allow women’s MMA on the show. Thankfully, things have changed drastically in recent years, but it was Rousey who White felt he could build the first Women’s division around. The Women’s 135llbs bantamweight championship was essentially created for Ronda to compete for.
Since retiring from MMA and specifically the UFC, Rousey continued her trailblazing path, right into WWE. Her debut match at WrestleMania saw her tagging with The Olympic Gold Medallist Kurt Angle against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. She then went on to be one third of the first Women’s WrestleMania Main Event in a Triple Threat Match with Charlotte and Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania 35.
And throughout her second rise to the top, this time in the squared circle, Rousey believes that it is the wrestling fans who are most willing to support their heroes, past present and future.
H/t to Fightful