Ronda Rousey has said she can “guarantee” that UFC president Dana White is “not happy” with the quality of the promotion’s White House fight card. On Saturday, the UFC announced its card for an unprecedented event on the South Lawn on 14 June, after hyping the show for six months. Fans expressed disappointment with what was unveiled, having been promised the greatest card in UFC history.
The announcement came days after the shock news that women’s MMA pioneers Rousey and Gina Carano will end their respective retirements on 16 May, as they prepare to clash live on Netflix – at an event organised by Jake Paul’s company Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). Rousey has not fought since December 2016, when she failed to regain the UFC bantamweight title in a quick knockout loss to Amanda Nunes. Carano last competed in 2009.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Rousey said she and White held no mutual ill will, but she used her answer to take a swipe at the White House event. “Oh, he knows the White House card sucks. He knows that they were pushing this for over a year and it fell extremely short of expectations. I guarantee you he’s not happy with it either, and he’s the one that taught me – through example – to speak my mind,” she said.
Rousey also criticised the UFC’s treatment of fighters, saying: “It used to be that UFC was the best place that you could come in combat sports to make a living and be paid fairly, and now it’s one of the worst places to go. It’s why so many of their top athletes are leaving to go and find pay elsewhere.” She added that the UFC’s $7.7bn broadcast deal should allow it to pay athletes a living wage.
Rousey revealed she had offered the UFC the chance to host her fight with Carano, but the promotion passed. “I knew that we could promote this on our own and probably be the most lucrative way to go about it for us, but I have such love and respect for Dana that I wanted to bring this to him first,” she said.
