Ronda Rousey Publicly Puts the UFC on Blast

Though she built her career dominating the women's bantamweight division in the UFC, Ronda Rousey isn't doing the company any favors now that she's no longer associated with it.

Rousey was 6-2 in her UFC career with wins over Liz Carmouche, Meisha Tate Sara McMann, Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, and Bethe Correia.

Though she bowed out of the company after back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunez, Rousey is still regarded as one of the best the promotion had ever seen.

It's been nearly a decade since Rousey last fought in a mixed martial arts ring, but she's about to get back into the fighting game against another MMA pioneer, Gina Carano, next month at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, under the Most Valuable Promotions banner.

During a press event on Wednesday, Rousey was speaking with reporters to promote the card, and she didn't hesitate to take a shot at her former employer when talking about fighter pay.

"One thing that I'm really proud of in this fight is the absolute minimum that anybody will walk away with, even if they don't have a big, long record, and even if they lose, is $40,000," Rousey stated. "And if you fight three times in a year, that is much more than a living wage - and that is something that the UFC cannot say.

"… I hope after this event, we can keep raising that ceiling higher and higher until it is on par with the highest-level boxers because that is really where the holy grail for us is, and this is just the beginning."

This isn't the first time Rousey has called out the largest MMA promotion in the world for not paying its fighters enough.

The UFC notoriously has an uneven pay scale slanted in favor of the bigger name fighters that pays out very little to lesser-known names.

Beginner-level fighters typically make $12,000 to show and another $12,000 if they win. That number jumps up to the $50,000 to $150,000 range for mid-level fighters, while champions and headliners typically earn $500,000 up to millions of dollars.

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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 7:27 PM.