Ronda Rousey has been back in the gym, and back in the news of late as a result, though it doesn’t appear likely that she’ll get back in the cage again.
That said, the retired UFC Hall of Famer, bantamweight champion, and ex-WWE star is making headlines this week for comments regarding fellow UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov – and they weren’t exactly pretty, though to some extent, the headlines have lacked context.
Seemingly questioning the undefeated lightweight champion’s legacy, Rousey suggested that Khabib walked away from the sport too soon.
“I think the only reason why MMA fans have their lips so firmly planted at the base of Khabib’s c*ck is because he retired before he reached his limit,” the former UFC star and first-ever women’s champ in the promotion told Bert Kreischer on the Bertcast podcast on Youtube (h/t Bloody Elbow).
“If he kept fighting until he reached his limit, everybody would be like, ‘Khabib ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t,’” she continued, noting the fickle nature of fight fans. “They’re like that with everybody. Name one person. ‘Brock ain’t sh*t, he never was sh*t’. Name one past champion that has the kind of respect that the current champions do. It’s really sad because I think it encourages people to get out while they’re peaking and leaving and taking all of that equity with them instead of passing it on to whoever’s next to take up the mantle.”
Rousey also served up Chuck Liddell and Anderson Silva, who she pointed out was “like a mythical creature for a while,” as similar examples.
“I wanted to retire undefeated because I was so afraid of everything that I accomplished is going to be nothing if I ever lose. So I have to retire undefeated. It wasn’t until I got into the WWE and saw that wait, you have to retire on a loss.”
Rousey seems to be making a point less about Khabib and more about the fear of losing and waffling of fans (though it’s worth noting that with wins over Rafael dos Anjos, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Conor McGregor, Nurmagomedov did fight some of the best of his era). She went on to talk about performers in the WWE passing the torch upon retirement – though in real fighting, there’s no guarantee the torch would successfully be passed.
“Everybody in WWE has to retire on a loss because you have to pass that torch on, and I think everyone in MMA, they’re going to try to take the torch with them because of how the fans respond to it.”
Ronda Rousey retired following her 2016 loss to Amanda Nunes, finishing her career 12-2 with six successful defenses of the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.
