Ronda Rousey recently went scorched earth on Kayla Harrison ahead of her Netflix clash against Gina Carano. During the pre-fight press conference, the former UFC bantamweight champ brought up accusations of lying and revealed deeper layers of animosity surrounding their long-running feud. Since then, fans have been left wondering what really happened between the former judoka teammates. Well, ‘Rowdy’ has finally shed some light on their rivalry, calling it “complicated” and rooted in a shared traumatic experience.  

“When she moved into the house, I mean, she was going through like a straight-up mental health crisis,” Rousey said on her YouTube video. “And I don’t think anything that went down then ever deserves to be under public scrutiny, you know, but like when she was going through it, I unwillingly was going through it with her. And so I wish her the absolute best in life and all of the success and all the things just like over there. You know, I just, I wish her the best. I just don’t want to be involved, you know?”   

Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison were once teammates during their judo careers. At the age of 16, the current UFC bantamweight champ moved to Massachusetts and began training under Rousey’s coach Jimmy Pedro, even sharing a house with her until the 2008 Olympics, where ‘Rowdy’ won a bronze medal. Later, Harrison surpassed that achievement by winning gold at the 2012 Olympics.

After that, Rousey and Harrison’s paths remained largely separate, even in MMA, with little friction between them. That changed when the former UFC bantamweight champion’s account of a Judo training session reignited tensions.

Following Rousey’s statements, Kayla Harrison took shots at ‘Rowdy’ at Jorge Masvidal’s Death Row podcast for allegedly lying about their judo training sessions, accusing ‘Rowdy’ of fabricating parts of their story. In response, the ex-champ fired back at her during the Netflix fight press conference.

As a result, the former teammates went back and forth with verbal jabs. Recently, the current UFC 135 lbs queen commented on Rousey’s fight with Carano not being “the greatest fight of all time,” and also threw shade at ‘Rowdy’ for chasing “money.” That, in turn, further soured their relationship. Moreover, Rousey also jibed at Harrison’s recent statement about taking retirement if the UFC doesn’t reopen the women’s featherweight division. 

“Then she’s like coming and talking s—t about me and Gina,” she added in the same video. “I’m like, dude, we’re doing nothing but help you. We’ve done nothing but help you. And like, I literally have like a vested interest in like developing the heavier divisions. She says she can’t make weight in her division anymore. It’s taken years off of her life, all this stuff. And it’s like, help me help you,”

“You know, like just I’m trying to feed you. Stop biting my f—g hand. Like, I’m trying to help you out, man … But she’s kind of like my brat little sister in a way where I’m just like, don’t come for me.”   

Now, as Ronda Rousey continues the animosity with Harrison, she’s fighting a bigger war against the UFC. Amid that, a prominent UFC champion has taken some shots at her.

Khamzat Chimaev fires back at Ronda Rousey after her UFC criticism  

Alongside Kayla Harrison, the MMA world witnessed Ronda Rousey grilling the UFC over fighters’ pay issues. Since her comments, ‘Rowdy’ has received support from fans who believe the UFC needs to change its pay structure, with even Joe Rogan backing her stance. But it seems not everyone is on board with her ideas.

Talking about Rousey’s verbal onslaught on the UFC, middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev responded by saying Dana White’s company actually made her, and that she’s being ungrateful. 

“There never would have been Ronda Rousey without the UFC,” Chimaev said on his YouTube channel. “I hate this. If they pay good or they don’t pay good, who cares? When she was Olympic champ, what did she make then?”

Well, it’s not only ‘Borz’ who has shared criticism of Ronda Rousey’s comments. Even Kayla Harrison’s American Top Team teammate Jorge Masvidal responded to ‘Rowdy’ with a similar sentiment.

That said, what do you think about Ronda Rousey going all out on Kayla Harrison and UFC with her statement ahead of her Netflix return?