Mighty Mouse Slams Ronda Rousey With Vicious Callout
Fans haven’t heard nor seen much from former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey since she lost to Amanda Nunes by first-round TKO at December’s UFC 207.
The general consensus is that Rousey will never set foot into the octagon again, a view that UFC President Dana White recently agreed with. She has appeared in other areas, such as a guest spot on NBC’s “Blindspot,” and news broke that she and boyfriend Travis Browne had gotten engaged.
It seems many fans are torn on if she should return, but several fighters have weighed in with the opinion that she should dust herself off and get back to training. None have done it as forcefully as dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, however, who called out Rousey for her self-imposed exile during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated:
“You look at Ronda Rousey. You got your ass beat, grow the f—k up. It happens. It’s mixed martial arts. I don’t want to be like that. If I lose, I’ll be like, I lost. Everybody f—ing loses. It’s part of the sport.
“Grow up. Look, Ronda, you lost two f—ing fights in a row, and you made more f—ing money than the women’s roster. You’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”
Johnson may be feeling a bit jaded following his record-tying tenth title defense, signifying that the pound-for-pound king is one of the all-time greats in UFC history. But that hasn’t translated into success at the box office and therefore, his pocketbook, as “Mighty Mouse’s” most recent win over Wilson Reis at UFC on FOX 24 drew some of the lowest-ever ratings for a FOX-aired card.
He also touched on the fact that CM Punk made more money than he did in his first UFC bout even though it was his only MMA contest and he was badly beaten by a prospect (albeit a talented one) himself. That seems to be a growing source of contention for many UFC fighters these days, but none have the body of work or right to complain as much as “Mighty Mouse” does.
He’s far and away the best fighter currently active on the UFC roster (no, Jon Jones is not active right now), and it’s a travesty to see him paid less than those who have never even fought.
As for Rousey, well, perhaps Johnson has a good argument for her situation, but like he also said, she’s probably made more than enough money to never consider fighting again.
Her unwillingness to even talk to the media after her first-ever loss to Holly Holm at November 2015’s UFC 193 may show that she doesn’t want the exposure that comes with being a high-profile fighter anymore. Should she grow up and return to the octagon, or are her two latest beatings simply something she refuses to come back from?
