Ronda Rousey’s name still carries weight in combat sports, but her recent public remarks have reignited debate about how she views her own legacy. The former UFC champion recently lashed out at fans and media, claiming they abandon fighters after losses and only offer negativity once a career declines.
That perspective didn’t sit well with longtime UFC veteran Matt Brown, who thinks Rousey’s frustration has more to do with old emotional scars than reality.
“I tell you what, Ronda, she has the mentality of a champion,” Brown said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “She puts the chip on her shoulder herself. She has so much pent up anger, she doesn’t have a hard time going to that dark place. That’s why she’s such a competitor, and it’s great for the competitiveness, but she’s not competing anymore.”
Brown suggested that since Rousey’s fighting days ended, she hasn’t truly moved on from the pain of her defeats.
“At some point, we’d like to see her go meditate or go do a DMT trip or do a yoga retreat or something. Just relax. People don’t hate you. … We want to love her so bad. … She is the best person at shooting herself in the foot ever.”
A Star Who Never Fully Recovered from Defeat
At her peak, Rousey was a global phenomenon, sharing the spotlight with Conor McGregor as one of the UFC’s biggest draws. But everything changed after her shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm in 2015. She disappeared from the public eye for nearly a year and returned only to be stopped again by Amanda Nunes in 2016.
Brown believes those back-to-back defeats may have left Rousey stuck in an emotional loop.
“It seems like psychologically, she’s still caught up in that moment when she was fighting,” Brown explained. “She’s like ‘it’s f*cking bullshit, I should have won.’ … I can sympathize with that feeling because I can go back to some of my own fights I lost.”
The veteran said that while every fighter experiences regret, learning to move forward is crucial.
“A few years later … that’s the past. What can I do now to move onwards and upwards? … It’s like she’s still stuck in that moment. It’s a devastating, traumatic thing. It takes a strong mind to get through it.”
“Find Peace,” Brown Says
Brown thinks Rousey’s current outbursts are reflections of that unresolved frustration.
“It’s projecting,” he said. “It’s a tragedy. I hope she finds peace. … Go do some great things and inspire some new people. … Right now, the way that your road is going, Ronda, what people are going to remember is that you’re a f*cking sore loser.”
Rousey didn’t stop at fans—she also took aim at longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan, calling him “a fan with an audience” who isn’t truly an expert because he never fought professionally.
While Brown partially understood her point, he called the attack misplaced.
“I actually get where she’s coming from with Rogan — he’s not a fighter. Neither is Jon Anik,” Brown said. “I actually kind of get that part. I don’t know why she’s hating on Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan is extremely knowledgeable. The fact that he never stepped foot in the cage, that doesn’t make him unknowledgeable.”
“He only has an opinion,” Brown added. “Until you’ve done something, all of your beliefs are opinions until you’ve actually done it. … But you don’t want to turn his crowd away, the biggest crowd in America. To disrespect him, it just doesn’t make sense either.”
Brown’s Final Take
The Ohio native closed his remarks by saying Rousey’s continued defensiveness risks overshadowing her trailblazing achievements.
“We want to love her. She just shoots herself over and over again in the foot,” Brown said. “No one fcking hates you. No one dislikes you. No one abandoned you. She could be twice the star as she was now. … She could have the fcking biggest podcast around. She’s well spoken. She just says the f*cking most ridiculous shit ever.”
Rousey, once the face of women’s MMA, changed the sport forever — but Brown’s comments make clear that the fight she still needs to win might be the one with herself.
