Ronda Rousey, at one point, had the entire fanbase rooting for her, cheering her name as she entered the octagon. Unfortunately, as time went by, the fight community started to bash the former bantamweight women’s champion after Holly Holm dismantled her in the cage. Coming to the recent developments, former Bellator/UFC commentator Jimmy Smith came out to slam the Judoka, tearing apart her ‘victim’ mentality and for not owning up to her losses.
Speaking on ‘SiriusXMFightNation’, the 46-year-old got blunt and honest, tearing down the facade to expose the ‘Rowdy’s’ cheap theatrics. He bashed her brutally, essentially saying that Rousey wanted credit and just couldn’t stand the blame. Smith opined,
“All the credit and none of the blame I want credit for my wins, my losses? I had CTE, I had this and I had that. I’m the greatest to ever do it but when it didn’t work, it was so and so and so but never me. She never gives credit to the people who actually beat her. The idea that I left MMA and went to the WWE because I had concussion problems makes no sense.”
In the clip, Smith even goes on to say,
“Everybody behind the scenes, that had to put a mic on Ronda Rousey, couldn’t stand her.”
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Well, Ronda Rousey’s UFC story is a two-parter. First, her meteoric rise to the top was nothing short of incredible. The Olympic medalist, with her strong Judo background, tore through the division and quickly became the champion. Sadly, the start of her downfall started ahead of her UFC 193 bout against Holly Holm.
Rousey was brash and overconfident, belittling her opponent, Holly Holm, before the fight, only to get rocked by Holm’s head kick. From there on, it was a downward spiral. She did not own her mistake, and seemed like she had never contemplated on the same. Surprisingly, Rousey carried the same aura to her next fight against Amanda Nunes.
The rise and fall of ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey
The former Strikeforce champion was announced to become the first female fighter to sign with the UFC in 2013 after a brief run in the defunct promotion, taking the belt from Meisha Tate. By the time she came over to the UFC, Rousey was a prominent name in the sport, with fans coming down to the arena to see the ‘Rowdy’ dominate her opponents with her patented armbar.
Her UFC career also started out with a bang. Ronda Rousey defended her Women’s Bantamweight belt successfully against Sarah McMann at UFC 170, finishing her opponent in the first round. She followed this performance up with wins against Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, and Beth Correia.
However, the champion ran into a roadblock against kickboxer Holly Holm, who gave a masterclass on distance management, picking apart the Judoka on the feet.
She hit rock bottom after this bout as she admitted that she even contemplated suicide. Shortly after one year, Rousey returned to the cage to take on Amanda Nunes, who nailed the final one in the coffin, finishing the ex-champ in under one minute.
While Rousey never really announced a formal retirement, it looks like her MMA days are over with the fighter focusing full time on WWE.
