Former bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is credited with putting WMMA in the mainstream and helping to build excitement and respect for women fighters. But she thinks that she wouldn't be welcomed back as a guest at the UFC.
“Ask the MMA media (why what I gave wasn’t enough) – they’re the ones saying it … that I was a fraud and I was hype and I was exposed and I was never anything and just lucky and all of these things, that I was ungracious or I was a loser, or every other thing that I just assume at this point because I don’t take the time to read it," Rousey told Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes of the High-Performance podcast.
“Everything that could be said that was negative was said, and I feel really vilified by MMA media at this point and not really welcome back, which is why I haven’t gone to a UFC fight since (I left). I’m pretty sure if I walked into the arena, I’d be booed. That’s how it feels.”
Rousey has been criticized by the media in the past, but it wasn't for "not giving enough" but rather for her reactions after losing her title. Instead of speaking to the media like most champions do after a loss, she hid behind a pillow and went into obscurity. When she did finally return, she refused all pre-fight media, again avoiding any responsibility.
Rousey is promoting her second book “Our Fight,” which came out in February.
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