Why MMA & Wrestling Fans Hate Ronda Rousey, Explored (2024)

Love her or hate her, few names have made an impact in sports quite like Ronda Rousey. A decade ago, during her run as an unbeatable UFC Champion, she was arguably the most famous athlete in America for a time. After some devastating losses, Ronda left the world of mixed martial arts behind for Vince McMahon's sports entertainment world of WWE. More initial success followed, but Rousey again ran into issues, and now she has quit professional wrestling as well. Along the way, Rousey went from loved to hated by many fans, and it's a problem she may have brought all on herself.

Ronda Rousey Was The UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion

A Shocking Loss To Holly Holm Ended Ronda Rousey's Aura

• Ronda Rousey won a bronze medal in Judo at the 2008 Olympics.
• Ronda Rousey was the first woman ever signed to the UFC.
• After a loss to Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey retired from MMA.

Before she was ever known as the Baddest Women on the Planet, Ronda Rousey practiced judo, becoming so good that she even won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2010, she moved to mixed martial arts, and by 2012, she was the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. She made history that same year by becoming the first women's fighter UFC ever signed. She called herself "Rowdy" in tribute to Roddy Piper, and was made the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.

Rousey went 6-0 in the UFC over a three-year span, becoming so dominant and popular that she was perhaps more famous than any star in the NFL or NBA. She was all over ESPN and some fans even clamored to see her fight boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Then it all came crashing down when, in November 2015, at UFC 193, Rousey lost to major underdog Holly Holm. It wasn't just that Rousey lost either, but that she was knocked out in the second round. It was reminiscent of Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson in 1990. It crushed Rousey's aura, with her whole gimmick being that she couldn't be beaten, and Rousey struggled to overcome the loss, even later admitting to Ellen DeGeneres that she was suicidal for a moment. After a year away, Rousey returned, only to get TKO'd again, this time by Amanda Nunes at UFC 207. With that, Ronda Rousey was done with MMA.

Many MMA fans turned on Rousey for quitting the UFC so quickly, rather than fighting through the adversity and trying to be better. UFC fighter Sean Strickland explained his hatred for Ronda Rousey in a video for MMA Weekly, saying that he didn't like how she talked about killing herself over a loss. He said:

Ronda Rousey's Last WWE Run Was A Failure

• WrestleMania 31 saw Ronda Rousey in the ring with The Rock.
• Ronda Rousey impressed fans at WrestleMania 34.
• Bad promo skills hindered Ronda Rousey's push in WWE.

Ronda Rousey then jumped to WWE. At first, fans accepted her. She'd looked good in her WrestleMania 31 appearance with The Rock, facing off against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, and then in her first match at WrestleMania 34, where she teamed with Kurt Angle to take on Stephanie and Triple H, she shocked everyone with how talented she was. That summer, she became the Raw Women's Champion and held it all the way until WrestleMania 35 where, in a history-making main event with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, she lost her title to "The Man". The cracks began forming before this, as WWE was booking Rousey as the face, but with her limited promo talent, and Lynch becoming the biggest star in the company, it was Becky who fans wanted to see more.

Rousey returned to WWE in 2022 and won the Women's Royal Rumble, but then lost a SmackDown Women's Championship match to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38. A month later, however, Rousey became the champion, and then the next year won it again, winning it on her first night back after a long hiatus. Her last two runs in WWE were awful. Rousey no longer seemed like the Baddest Woman on the Planet. Her matches were dull and repetitive, and worse, she was horrible on the mic. Someone who had once been the most exciting athlete in the world was now one of WWE's most boring superstars. Again, Rousey quit, losing to Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam 2023. Wrestling fans looked at her just like UFC fans did, as someone who quit whenever the going got tough.

Ronda Rousey Has Done Herself No Favors With Fans Recently

Ronda Rousey Has Been Outspoken About WWE

• Jimmy Smith says UFC employees couldn't stand Ronda Rousey.
• Ronda Rousey has insulted WWE fans.
• Eric Bischoff says Ronda Rousey is bitter and angry.

In a segment for his Unlocking the Cage podcast, former UFC and WWE commentator Jimmy Smith went off on Rousey, saying:

“Everybody behind the scenes that had to put a mic on Ronda Rousey couldn’t stand her. I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘She was a b***h to us from the moment she sat down to the moment she got up. Like, it’s our fault she has to do this interview to hype her next fight, and she’s just miserable and she’s mean to us and we can’t stand her.'”

This was in response to an interview Rousey had done with Chris Cuomo where she spoke of her disappointment at how everyone in the UFC turned on her, making herself the victim. That was nothing compared to the post release of Rousey's latest book, Our Fight, where she began complaining about WWE constantly, including calling it a "s**t show" backstage. This came after having mocked fans over the years on top of it. Eric Bischoff put it best on his 83 Weeks podcast, saying that Ronda Rousey "is bitter and angry." With UFC and WWE doing great business, fans don't want to hear about how someone hated working for them because everything didn't go their way. That negativity just makes them want Ronda Rousey to go away.