Matt Brown blames Ronda Rousey's recent statements for pushing away MMA community's desire to embrace her: "Show a little bit of humility"
MMA legend and UFC veteran Matt Brown recently sounded off on the rocky relationship between fellow legend Ronda Rousey and the MMA world. At the moment, there seems to be a huge rift between the former UFC bantamweight queen and the MMA community - particularly the MMA media.
'Rowdy' was once the poster athlete of not the UFC but of the entire sport in general. She represented a revolution in sports that had lasting effects as far as equality and female empowerment. However, after losing her belt via KO to Holly Holm and suffering the same fate at the hands of Amanda Nunes in her subsequent comeback bout, Rousey retired and seemingly retreated to obscurity.
Now an active pro wrestler signed with WWE, Rousey has been staying away from the MMA world. The American Judoka even mentioned recently that "media vilification" contributed to her scarred relationship with the sport (via High Performance podcast).
To this, Brown Provided his thoughts, telling Damon Martin of MMA Fighting:
"You don't wanna go around living that way, like blaming other people for the way your life is. The way that you're portrayed. And I don't doubt for a second that she [Rousey] could reconcile everything. Like, she could walk in and just show a little bit of humilty... and everybody will be bowed down to her again... hire a halfway-decent PR person [to] tell you what to say, just say that s**t, then the world is yours again... but NO ONE, no one wants to hear the s**t that she says."
Here's a clip of Matt Brown's interview:
Matt Brown believes most of MMA world still "wants to love" Ronda Rousey
In the same interview, Matt Brown offered up his thoughts on how the MMA world sees the former pound-for-pound great Ronda Rousey. He believes that the community is still willing to embrace Rousey if she is ready to do the same.
Brown said:
"She [Rousey] doesn't realize that - I think - most of the MMA world wants to love her... She's a perfect figure for all to love and attach to. You know, she has all the right qualities. But she pushed us away... But I think, every fans WANTS to love her."
Whether or not Rousey's relationship with the MMA world gets mended over time is still up in the air. Though people would be divided on her character outside the ring, one thing is universal: she is one of the most remarkable athletes in history. Her contributions to the sport of MMA will never be taken away from her.