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At a press conference on Tuesday, attention was drawn not just to Ronda Rousey’s upcoming bout, but to her sharp commentary.
Speaking at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, where she was promoting her high-profile match with Gina Carano, Rousey didn’t hold back when questioned about the UFC.
The renowned fighter, who achieved international fame through her association with Dana White’s organization, criticized the UFC, claiming it fails to adequately compensate its athletes.
She did it all, too, while making a reference to Valentina Shevchenko that drew an audible gasp from the crowd in attendance.
“It used to be that the UFC was the best place you could come in combat sports to make a living and be paid fairly,” she said. “And now it’s no longer — it’s one of the worst places to go. It’s why so many of their top athletes are leaving to go and find pay elsewhere.
“It’s why their champions, like Valentina, are selling pictures of their t—ties on OnlyFans. You know? Like, these people, a lot of them at the ground level, they can’t even, they can’t support their families. They’re living poverty level fighting full-time.
“This company just got $7.7 billion. There’s no reason they can’t afford to pay their athletes at least a living wage.”
Rousey’s rant came just minutes after she revealed she first wanted her impending matchup with Carano to take place in the UFC.
She, though, said when “they weren’t able to offer me a respectable deal,” she pivoted toward putting together a card with Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions.
Rousey made it clear her beef was not with White — in fact, she said he actually encouraged her to go find a larger payday elsewhere when talks with the UFC stalled.
“Most of my criticisms of the UFC now is because Dana isn’t the owner and he isn’t calling the shots and he isn’t running things the way that he wants,” Rousey said. “Because he’s an employee of the company now. He’s not an owner. I think it was a big mistake of theirs to not let him just run things the way that he always has.”
It’s the second time this week Rousey’s taken a shot at the UFC — on Monday, she criticized the org. for the card it put together for its June event at Donald Trump’s White House.
On Tuesday, she doubled down on that stance.
“[Dana White] knows the White House card sucks,” Rousey said. “He knows that they were pushing this for over a year and it fell extremely short of expectations … I can guarantee you he’s not happy with it either.”
Rousey later added that White was the one that “taught me through example to speak my mind,” and it certainly seems she’s going to be content doing that all the way until fight night with Carano on May 16.