The UFC middleweight champion was left seething after Ronda Rousey criticised her former employers ahead of her own return to the cage
Khamzat Chimaev has hit back at Ronda Rousey’s comments about the UFC
Khamzat Chimaev has ripped into Ronda Rousey amid her ongoing feud with the UFC.
Rousey will return to the Octagon next month under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions banner. ‘Rowdy’ will take on fellow MMA veteran Gina Carano in Los Angeles. The American was a real pioneer in the sport and the first-ever female champion in the UFC before leaving the promotion following back-to-back knockout defeats to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
Both Rousey and Carano will headline the Netflix showcase – which also features the likes of Francis Ngannou, Nate Diaz and Mike Perry. Ahead of her return to the cage, Rousey has been brutally critical of former employers, particularly when it comes to discussing fighter pay.
“It’s why their champions like Valentina (Shevchenko) are selling pictures of their ti**ies on OnlyFans,” she said. “It used to be that UFC was the best place that 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. It’s why so many of their top athletes are leaving to go and find pay elsewhere.”
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The topic of fighter pay in the UFC has long been a debate in the world of MMA. Some have come out in defence of the American, but not everyone seems to be a big fan of her scathing remarks. Middleweight champion Chimaev has recently weighed in on Rousey’s recent criticisms of Dana White’s promotion.
‘There never would have been Ronda Rousey without [the] UFC,” he said on his official YouTube channel. He added: “I hate it, ungrateful. If they pay good or they don’t, who cares? When she was an Olympic champ, what did she make then? Zero.”
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Like Rousey, Chimaev is also preparing for a fight next month. The undefeated behemoth takes on Sean Strickland in the first defence of his middleweight title on May 9 in the main event at UFC 329 in Newark. Tensions have been brewing between the pair ever since the fight was announced – so much so that UFC chief Dana White has stated that the promotion intends to keep the fighters separated until it’s time to fight.
In a recent blog uploaded by Adam Zubayraev, Chimaev responded to a social media comment asking if security will have to pull him off of his upcoming foe even if he has finished his the controversial American. “I don’t want to kill a man,” Chimaev said. “Haram. … No. They wouldn’t let me kill him there anyway. Out on the street, that’s different—if he dies, he dies. But in the cage, it’s sport.”
Chimaev does not care how he gets the job done, as long as he ultimately comes away with his hand raised. “Honestly, I don’t think about that at all,” he stated. “I’m just training for now. Whatever happens, happens. … I always picture victory, but only the Almighty knows how it will happen. By any means.”