Ronda Rousey has been widely revered as one of the GOATs of women’s MMA as a result of her dominant UFC run. It must be why, ahead of her return to the cage on Saturday against Gina Carano, the talks are not just around her Octagon performances but also about her behavior behind the scenes.

Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, used a recent Kick stream to air his longstanding grievances about the 39-year-old, accusing her of mistreating UFC staff behind the scenes throughout her tenure in the promotion.

“I have never been a fan of Ronda Rousey,” Rampage said. “Too arrogant. There’s nothing wrong with believing in yourself, but there’s a fine line. I hate to say this live and stuff, but she’s never been nice to the staff and the behind-the-scenes people.

“There’s a fine line between believing in yourself and being overly cocky. In fighting, you have to be confident, and you have to believe in yourself. There’s a fine line.”

Jimmy Smith, a prominent combat sports commentator who previously worked with Bellator MMA and also had a brief stint in the UFC, shared a similar story about Rousey’s behavior.

During a 2024 SiriusXM interview, Smith alleged that Rousey was dismissive toward production staff and claimed that the former champion had developed a poor reputation among those working backstage at MMA events. The commentator further stated that some staff members even took pleasure in discussing Rousey’s brutal losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes as a form of payback for how she had treated them.

However, most of these accusations remain first-person accounts and until someone corroborates the claims made by Rampage, Tate or Jimmy Smith, it’ll be harder to determine their veracity.

Regardless, a lot of what is being said about her in the lead up to her Gina Caranao Netflix bout can be seen as pushback fueled by her recent criticism of the UFC and their business practices. Even a well-known former UFC fighter, not too long ago, took aim at the former champion for demeaning Dana White’s promotion.

Jorge Masvidal pushes back on Ronda Rousey’s UFC criticism

After signing with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), Ronda Rousey went scorched earth on the UFC and their fighter pay structure. The 39-year-old had a huge problem with Dana White’s company paying their fighters $12k to show and win, which she believes is way below a living wage.

Following her rant, Rousey got some support from personalities like Joe Rogan that strengthened her position. However, not everyone was on board with that, especially Jorge Masvidal.

The UFC’s inaugural BMF champion took shots at Ronda Rousey for disrespecting her former company and Dana White.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Ronda,” Masvidal said on his Deathrow MMA podcast. “But Ronda’s never been the best on the mic, to tell you the truth. She just says things that are weird. Her taking shots at Dana, it’s like, Dana made you. Dana literally hand-walked you into the league and opened a lot of doors for you.”

It is worth noting that Rousey has consistently distinguished between her issues with Dana White and her issues with UFC brass more broadly. Her primary target has been Hunter Campbell, not White. And she has argued that White himself has become less of a decision-maker as TKO has taken greater control over the promotion.

Whether the attention surrounding her behavior, both past and present, affects how the May 16th Netflix audience receives her remains to be seen. The fight itself is the vehicle she has chosen to make her case.

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