Maybe Ronda Rousey should back off a little bit. It could be in her best interest to focus on taking on just Gina Carano instead of the whole world. ‘Rowdy,’ true to her name, went off with some rowdy comments again, this time against former teammate and mentee, Kayla Harrison. But her unfiltered rant on the UFC bantamweight champion did not go unchecked. Harrison’s camp stepped in, and they brought receipts.
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Ali Abdelaziz, who represents Kayla Harrison, Islam Makhachev, and once Khabib Nurmagomedov, publicly defended ‘Doug’ by drawing a clear comparison between the two fighters’ accomplishments.
“Kayla Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, judo world champion, two-time PFL champion, and now a UFC champion,” he wrote on X. “Ronda Rousey is an Olympic bronze medalist and former UFC champion, coming off two knockout losses.
“In my opinion, the resumes are not comparable. Good luck to everyone, @KaylaH, @ufc.”
The response was direct and deliberate, cutting through the emotion in Ronda Rousey’s words and redirecting the conversation to credentials. While ‘Rowdy’ focused on history and influence, the manager of team Khabib Nurmagomedov highlighted quantitative achievements such as titles, medals, and recent cage success.
It all began when ‘Doug,’ speaking to Jorge Masvidal on the Death Row MMA podcast, called out Ronda Rousey for stretching the truth with some of her stories featuring Kayla Harrison. And speaking of stretching the truth, Harrison further called out ‘Rowdy’ for overhyping the MVP MMA event.
“‘Best card in the history of fighting,’ haven’t you heard?” Harrison said. “[Rousey] said this is the best female fight of all time.
“How old is Gina Carano? She hasn’t fought in 17 years. Like, shut up.”
So, when asked by Ariel Helwani to comment on it, Rousey accused Kayla Harrison of lacking charm and downplayed her relevance in the sport.
“Gina is so relevant that she is the whole reason the 145 lbs division even exists,” Rousey claimed. “I am so relevant that the only reason she has a job at the UFC is because of me. Kayla is so irrelevant that she couldn’t even keep the 145 lbs division around.
“Honestly, she’s just sour because no matter what she does or accomplishes, she has the charisma of a wet towel and will always be in mine and Gina’s shadows. The next time she wants to talk s—, she wants to look down at her feet and consider who paved the path she is walking on.”
It was a rare moment where Rousey, who helped pioneer women’s MMA in the UFC, found herself on the opposite side of a generation gap. Now, with figures from Ali Abdelaziz stepping in, the narrative has shifted again. And this is not the first time Abdelaziz has had to fend off Rousey.
Kayla Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, judo world champion, two-time PFL champion, and now a UFC champion. Ronda Rousey is an Olympic bronze medalist and former UFC champion, coming off two knockout losses. In my opinion, the resumes are not comparable. Show more
Late last year, she went off on Khabib Nurmagomedov and his fanbase. She said on Bert Kreischer’s show, “I think the only reason why MMA fans have their lips so firmly planted at the base of Khabib’s c—k is because he retired before he reached his limit. If he kept fighting until he reached his limit, everybody would be like, ‘Khabib ain’t s—t’.”
These incendiary comments fetched reactions from many, including Ali Abdelaziz and Islam Makhachev. “She can’t compare herself to Khabib. She’s not, she’s not like a GOAT. She’s just, you know, unhappy,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “If you think you’re better than Khabib, you should come back. And Kayla Harrison, your old friend, I’m sure would be very, very happy to open the door for you and give you an a– whooping if you want.”
Days before his welterweight title fight at UFC 322, Makhachev responded to Rousey on Complex News, saying, “No, it’s not true, man. Khabib is a great person. Who really knows Khabib, who [are] close with him, they know him [and] what he did for the people, for his family, for like everybody who [are] around him.”
This is no longer just a verbal battle between Rousey and other fighters; it’s a much bigger debate about legacy versus current dominance, with both sides firmly backing their own. And while Ronda Rousey was all unapologetic when it came to trash-talking Kayla Harrison, she immediately backtracked after accidentally bringing Paddy Pimblett into the fray.
Ronda Rousey checks herself as Paddy Pimblett gets caught in the crossfire
The intensity of Ronda Rousey’s rant almost spilled beyond its intended target. While taking shots at Kayla Harrison, she ended up bringing Paddy Pimblett into the conversation, using him as a benchmark to undermine Harrison’s star power.
In the middle of her rant, ‘Rowdy’ highlighted that Harrison’s undisputed title fight was scheduled as a co-main event, in contrast to a men’s interim title contest headlined by Pimblett.
“Her and Hunter Campbell were trying to act like her next fight is the biggest women’s fight of all time.” Rousey said. Then why is it being booked as the co-main for a men’s interim title fight?
“The b—- isn’t even bigger than Paddy ‘The Baddy.’ “
But almost immediately, her tone shifted.
“No offense to Paddy,” she said. “I think he’s got more potential than anyone else in the UFC, and he should call me when his contract runs out.”
That quick correction wasn’t random. Ronda Rousey has previously praised ‘The Baddy,’ calling him one of the few fighters who understands the entertainment value of the sport. For her, he represents a new type of star—one who connects beyond fighting.
“That’s what I think really matters, that you can make people know who you are,” Rousey said back in October. People that don’t know fighting. And that is how you command the being-an-entertainer aspect.
“I think a lot of the fighters don’t realize that they’re also entertainers. The one person I think who really realizes that is Paddy Pimblett. And so I really appreciate that.”
So while his name got pulled into the moment, it also showed the fine line Ronda Rousey was walking—going all out in one direction while being careful not to burn bridges in the other.
