Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is venting frustration about what she calls a toxic pattern in mixed martial arts: the fast-falling respect for fighters once they lose. Speaking on a podcast, Rousey said the MMA community celebrates its stars one minute, then treats them like they were never anything the next.

“MMA fans and media are the most what-have-you-done-lately crowd of any sport,” she said. “You’re on top, you’re legit. The second you’re not, you’re nothing and you never were anything.”

Rousey contrasted that with her experience in professional wrestling, where legends continue to be honoured long after their final match. She cited icons from MMA like Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko, pointing out how quickly the narrative around them flipped after losses.

“Chuck Liddell? At his peak people said he was the best. Then he lost, and they said ‘Oh Chuck ain’t shit, he never was shit.’ The same for Anderson, Fedor… it’s like they erase everything.”

Rousey believes the only reason Khabib Nurmagomedov is still “hated-on” by so few is because he retired undefeated. If he had lost at the end, she says, the reaction might’ve been identical.

“I think the only reason MMA fans still have their lips glued to Khabib’s base is because he left while still on top. If he’d stayed, kept fighting, took a loss, he’d be in the same category of ‘you ain’t shit, you never were shit.’”

Looking back at her own career, Rousey admitted she always feared the moment her legacy might be discounted because of a loss. She revealed that fear shaped her decision-making:

“I wanted to retire undefeated because I was so afraid all I did would mean nothing if I ever lost.”

But she says her shift into wrestling helped her see a larger truth: longevity matters, and how you exit the sport is as big as what you accomplished. She argued that MMA’s culture forces athletes to retire at their peak rather than pass the torch.

“In WWE you retire on a loss because you pass it on. In MMA, everybody wants to leave while they’re peaking and take everything with them — because the moment you don’t peek, you’ll wake up one morning and find out you never were anything.”

She also took aim at the general public of MMA — the fans, pundits, and commentators — saying many lack real fighting experience and therefore misunderstand just how brutal the sport is on body and mind.

“The fans? A lot of them have never fought. They don’t know about training camp, they don’t know how short your shelf life is. Every fight changes you. You can’t keep going forever. The body breaks down. And in that moment when you hit the limit — that’s when they tell you: you ain’t shit, you never were shit.”

Rousey’s comments shine a harsh light on how the MMA world treats its champions — celebrating them when they win, burying them when they don’t. By speaking out, she’s challenging fighters, fans and media to rethink how victories and defeats should be framed and remembered.