Ronda Rousey has ranted about UFC, accusing the mixed martial arts promoter of not paying enough to their fighters. "It used to be that UFC was the best place 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."
Rousey, 39, became the first woman to sign with UFC in 2012, and became undefeated for six fights. She lost to Holly Holm in 2015, which affected her mentally, and never returned to fight with UFC, joining the WWE and other independent wrestling circuits. Her fight with Gina Carano in Los Angeles on May 16 will be her first MMA fight since her loss in 2015 (it will also be Carano's first MMA fight since 2009).
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Rousey criticised the UFC in a media event before her fight with Carano, which has been produced by Jake Paul's boxing promoter MVP, and will be streamed on Netflix. "A lot of them (fighters), at the ground level, can't even support their families. They're living at poverty level fighting full time. And this company just got 7.7 billion dollars. They're thinking about the next quarter. They're thinking about the shareholders", said Rousey (via Reuters). Jake Paul added that "UFC is dying, and MVP is here to take over".
In the media event, Francis Ngannou, a former UFC champion himself, agreed with Rousey. "We are not an employee. We are independent contractors, and we should be able to get what we deserve". Ngannou will fight against Philipe Lins in the co-main event before the Rousey vs. Carano fight.