Though she never took the opportunity to fight Cris Cyborg inside the Octagon, Ronda Rousey is still happy to take a dig at the multi-time world champion whenever the opportunity arises.
Rousey and Cyborg are two of the biggest names in women’s MMA history. Kickstarting their careers under the Strikeforce banner, ‘Rowdy’ went on to become the UFC’s first-ever female champion after the promotion had bought out its competition in 2011. Unfortunately, Cyborg did not follow suit and opted to grow her brand outside of the UFC—at least until 2016 when she finally made her Octagon debut six months before Rousey’s fateful fight with Holly Holm.
To this day, ‘Rowdy’ remains convinced that she ultimately saved women’s MMA from going under, especially after Gina Carano exited the sport.
“People forget how fragile that situation was and how last-minute I was able to get us in,” Rousey told Chris Van Vliet of women in UFC. “Strikeforce was the only organization that was really showcasing women and that was because of Gina Carano, because her dad was involved with the Nevada Athletic Commission and was able to sanction fights for her and all these things.
“When she was gone, Cris Cyborg’s pumped to the f*cking gills with steroids. No one wants to watch that cheating-ass b*tch. Everything just tanked. The division was dying. The UFC bought Strikeforce and it was assumed they were just going to absorb all of the male talent that they liked and fold the whole organization because that’s what they did with PRIDE, that’s what they did with WEC, that was their business model. So there was a matter of time.”
Cyborg Snaps Back at Ronda Rousey
Getting wind of Rousey’s comments, Cyborg couldn’t help but have a hearty laugh.
“[crying laughing emoji] does @RondaRousey realize she only has 8 fights in the ufc and only won 75% of them?! [clown and Earth emojis]” Cyborg wrote on X.
https://x.com/criscyborg/status/1826349446155960618
Responding to a fan who pointed out that Cyborg only had seven fights under the UFC banner, the Brazilian snapped back, writing:
“I have had a 19 year career, 17 world title wins, lost and didn’t quit. The idea she saved a sport is goofy,” she replied. “Calling me a Bitch when there’s no fight to promote is funny. I just saw her mom and sister at the boxing fights in LA and they were nothin short of polite and nice in person.”
https://x.com/criscyborg/status/1826390665514946762
Cyborg has competed in 30 fights throughout her two-decade-long career, going 27-2 with one no-contest. She went 6-1 inside the Octagon with her lone loss coming against former two-division titleholder Amanda Nunes—the same woman who blasted her way through Rousey in 48 seconds and sent ‘Rowdy’ running off into retirement.
Since the loss to Nunes, Cyborg has won 11 straight between her appearances in MMA and boxing.
Watch the full interview with Rousey below:
