Ronda Rousey was undoubtedly the biggest star in the UFC between 2012 and 2015, but that hasnât saved her from being largely dismissed by current fans several years after her dominant reign. In Rondaâs opinion, that highlights a key difference between MMA and WWE fans: MMA fans donât respect their past legends like they should.
In a recent Baddest Stream on the Planet video, Rousey shared her perspective on how MMA fans often drop a fighter the moment theyâre no longer on top.
âWWE fans care more about the wrestlers than the UFC fans care about the fighters,â Rousey said (via Wrestling Inc). âUFC fans have, like, much less respect for their veterans and the legends of the sport than WWE fans do.â
âA lot of UFC fans are kind of like bandwagon fans in that way. Itâs like, the second youâre not on top, youâre dead to them. Whereas WWE fans are like, âThis is the guy that, you know, did this 20 years ago,â and theyâre still really excited about that.â
Ronda Rousey is a pioneer of womenâs MMA and the main reason why female fighters are competing in the UFC today. She was the promotionâs first womenâs bantamweight champion and defended the title six times in dominating fashion. That hasnât stopped her from getting a lot of hate from fans and revisionist views on her career as a whole.
While some of that may be due to how she handled her first career losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, it still doesnât fully explain why her legacy is largely ignored a mere decade after she took the combat sports world by storm. Rousey definitely has a point that WWE fans lionize their past stars while MMA fans are often guilty of tearing them down or forgetting them entirely.
If you have any doubts about that, look at some newer fansâ reaction to Jose Aldoâs retirement, where they dismiss his accomplishments. See how people downplay the accomplishments of G.O.A.T.s like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Fedor Emelianenko. MMA is very much a âWhat have you done for me latelyâ sport.
While this may be an issue with sports culture in general, the UFC doesnât do a great job of building up its past stars either. Aging legends are often fed to up-and-comers on the way out, ending their careers on a string of nasty losses. And what little programming devoted to shining a light on the historic fights and fighters of the past isnât enough to counter an endless stream of hot Twitter takes from fans so new that donât even know what a âTUF noobâ is.
lolol
Well yeah, wrestling is fake and itâs fans are composed of retarded kids and middle aged nerds.
Rondas a fag
She just prefers a world where fan reaction can be more scripted so she can pretend sheâs disliked over storylines rather than her shitty personality.
Poetic
If she gets to the point where she canât be a âpro wrestlerâ, and she manages to stay in the limelight, say on Twitch, sheâll think the same thing about the WWE fans as she does MMA fans.
Professional sports are tough in that the fans arenât interested in the past, and they want to know what have you done for me lately. âFansâ tend to believe theyâre fans of an athlete when theyâre likely truly not. MMArtists do one of the hardest things that can be done, and they rarely do it an elite level for more than a half dozen years or so.
âPro wrestlersâ are actors. Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair can still yell into a mic. They can probably still âchopâ, and âboot blockâ, too. If Ronda wants to, sheâll be able to do this for another dozen years.
MMA fans are done with her, and likely mock her, despite who she was when she was. âPro wrestlingâ fans appreciate her now while she is a part of what they enjoy. She is a sensitive person. Itâs not as glorious, but it suits her personality. Celebrities know that when their time is up, no one cares. Sheâs not wrong, itâs just not that relevant to non-athletes or celebrities.
And Lost twice in devastating fashion
Kill_Hammer
Well a lot of wrestling fans are kids who donât understand the world. And the people that do understand it, know itâs fake. Iâm sure Rousey has plenty of non fans in the WWE as well.
People love many athletes well into retirement, and wrestlers as well.
Sure there are plenty the way you say but itâs not everyone.
And donât forget that she was shitting all over WWE fans nearly immediately after joining WWE when they werenât reacting how she wanted them to.
Iâm sure she can now claim it was all an act as part of her wrestling character but sheâs not exactly a good actress and seemed pretty genuinely pissed at them and the situation.
Never fun to see women ageâŚtime is a motherfucker and the wall is always waiting.
Ronda vs Kaufman weigh in Ronda was Rondaâs prime as far as looks goâŚ
NowâŚ
Hard disagree. Iâm ride or die for the Diaz bros no matter how many times they ever lost
Itâs all about your attitude and approach. Rousey came across as a big time bitch on TUF. Then they way she handled her two losses was pretty bad too
Itâs more how she handled adversity after her first loss. Not easy to support someone that evidently drank their own kool-aid and had a mental breakdown after the defeat.
Not an Act
Look up âpersonal responsibilityâ in the dictionary⌠RRâs picture is not in the definition. Millennials are a special group.