The biggest story in MMA over the past 48 hours has had only the most tenuous of connections to MMA itself: the resignation of TKO Group Holdings’ Vince McMahon, and a lawsuit accusing him of extreme sexual abuse and trafficking.
McMahon’s position in TKO technically put him above Dana White in the hierarchy of the company that houses both the UFC and WWE. And while McMahon was not expected to have any day-to-day involvement in the mixed martial arts promotion, TKO as a whole is most certainly in damage control mode.
Now, one of the former stars of both companies, Ronda Rousey, has suggested that McMahon, who ran WWE/F for decades, will still influence the company even after his resignation. Rousey, who held gold both in real-world fighting and the scripted realm of professional wrestling, outlined exactly why she things that could happen.
“Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar, if he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business,” Rousey stated in a recent post to social media. “Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was “gone” before.”
Prichard, known to older wrestling fans as the on-screen character “Brother Love,” is currently an Executive Director with the company.
McMahon stepped away from the WWE in 2022 after a scandal involving hush money payments to multiple unnamed women connected to the company. One of those, Janel Grant, is the complainant behind the lawsuit that has now forced McMahon to walk away from his empire for the second time — following allegations that she was subjected to gang sexual assaults, had explicit photos of her shown to WWE staff members, and was defecated on by McMahon, against her will, during a threesome with his personal trainer.
Ronda Rousey, the inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion, had a highly successful run with the WWE but parted ways with the wrestling juggernaut last year.
