"She's talking about the UFC" - Ariel Helwani sounds off on Ronda Rousey for "bashing MMA fans"

Ariel Helwani has fired back at Ronda Rousey for her recent tirade against MMA fans. The veteran journalist believes Rousey’s frustration is misplaced, and she’s confusing criticism of the UFC with criticism of the people who once idolized her.

Helwani reminded that MMA fans celebrated Rousey like no other fighter during her rise. They turned her into a mainstream icon who went on to grab roles in Hollywood movies and eventually WWE.

On a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, the veteran journalist argued that losing never erased greatness in the sport. He presented the case of legends like B.J. Penn, Nate Diaz, and more, who built their legacies despite multiple defeats.

Helwani shared a clip of his lengthy rebuttal on X, in which he said:

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

"It's such a misinformed, ill-advised take in my opinion. And it's one of many, but this one really annoyed me for multiple reasons. The main one being she's not talking about UFC fans or MMA fans. She's talking about the UFC. And so whatever feelings she has towards the company, towards the executives, she's misdirecting those feelings towards the fans. The fans did nothing to Ronda Rousey."

He also captioned the X post:

"B.J. Penn, Nate Diaz, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier. I could go all day. Do people talk shit about you when you lose? Yeah, but that's any sport. When Conor lost to Nate, people liked him more after the loss, the way he stood there and met with the media and took his lumps and came back stronger. She could not be more wrong about this. MMA fans have the shortest memory. This anger is misdirected, but once again, she won't take any ownership for how she handled these situations."

Check out Ariel Helwani's X post below:

---

Brendan Schaub steps up for Joe Rogan after Ronda Rousey’s comments

Brendan Schaub came to Joe Rogan’s defense after Ronda Rousey took a jab at him on Bert Kreischer’s podcast. Schaub said Rousey’s remarks went unchecked because Kreischer isn’t an MMA expert and couldn’t challenge her claims.

He added that Rousey should’ve gone on Rogan’s show, where a balanced debate could’ve happened. Schaub also criticized Kreischer for not defending Rogan. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Schaub said:

"It doesn’t do Ronda or Bert any justice when one’s an expert and one’s just a general fan because all she’s doing is talking at him, and there’s no rebuttal. The best thing she could have done is go on Rogan’s podcast. Now, obviously, there’s some ill will toward Rogan, which we can get into, but Rogan would see it from both sides. When she says that stuff about the champions, Rogan has the knowledge where he can push back a little bit, and then maybe they have a conversation and come to an equal understanding that informs the casuals and the hardcores. You don’t get much from this when it’s just her speaking at Bert, who’s a casual fan."

Edited by Abhishek Nambiar