Ronda Rousey: I would be booed if I returned to a UFC event

Ronda Rousey was, at times, a polarizing figure in the world of MMA.

And although she’s been away from the sport longer than she was in it, she remains a significant personality in the space — and remains polarizing.

With the release of her second book, “Our Fight,” in February, Rousey has returned to the spotlight more than ever since leaving WWE. One of the big takeaways from the new book, besides admitting that a history of concussions helped her decide to leave MMA, is that Rousey feels she was mistreated by members of the media following her back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, which were her two latest MMA fights.

“MMA media” is a pretty broad term that many people equate not only with members of legacy and traditional media outlets – i.e., Los Angeles Times, USA TODAY/MMA Junkie, ESPN – but also with broadcast analysts, former fighters than viewing shows on YouTube, or even a random blogger whose podcast gets 40 streams a week. It was unclear whether Rousey was talking about specific segments of the MMA media space.

Rousey told Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes about the High performance podcast that what she wrote in her book about people hating her when she left MMA was “pretty accurate in my mind.”

“Ask the MMA media (why what I gave wasn’t enough) – they’re the ones saying this… that I was a fraud and I was exaggerated and I was exposed and I never had anything and just luck and all that stuff, that I was impolite or a loser, or whatever else I assume at this point because I don’t take the time to read it,” Rousey said.

“Everything negative that could be said has been said, and I feel very maligned by the MMA media right now and not very welcome back, which is why I haven’t been to a UFC fight since (I left). I’m sure if I walked into the arena I would be booed. That’s how it feels.”

After the concussion was revealed, Rousey was supported by some prominent figures in the world of MMA – such as Daniel Cormier. But she was also heavily criticized by others, such as Jimmy Smith.

When the hosts suggested that she was perhaps being hard on herself, Rousey reiterated that she was talking about “what it’s like to have everyone hate you.”

“I live it,” Rousey said. “I think I wish it didn’t (bother me). I gave them everything I had and it wasn’t enough. But that’s why a lot of people don’t give everything they have, because they don’t want to face it if it’s not enough. I know it was enough for me, but not enough for people outside. But it really wasn’t for them.”

After winning bronze in judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Rousey moved to MMA. She submitted her first three amateur opponents in less than a minute, all via armbar. After she turned pro in 2011, the arm barrage continued. She won the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title against Miesha Tate and sparked arguably the greatest rivalry in women’s MMA history.

She was the reason Dana White caved and ushered in the women’s UFC era in 2013. But after a 12-0 start with 11 first-round submissions and six UFC title defenses, she was defeated by Holly Holm in 2015 . Thirteen months later, when trying to recapture the belt against Amanda Nunes, she was stopped in just 48 seconds.

The loss to Nunes remains her last MMA fight as of December 2016. In 2017, Rousey signed with WWE and began actively performing for the company in 2018. She left WWE last fall and announced her retirement from professional wrestling, although has made one-off appearances in other wrestling organizations.

This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie