{"id":542986,"date":"2026-03-16T00:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T00:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542986\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T00:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T00:45:11","slug":"ronda-rouseys-return-ufc-criticism-is-wake-up-call-to-mma-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542986\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronda Rousey’s return, UFC criticism is ‘wake-up call’ to MMA world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marina Shafir couldn\u2019t stop \u201chowling\u201d as best friend Ronda Rousey ripped into the UFC over the issue of fighter pay during her Netflix press conference last week.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rousey, who has never been one to pull punches, criticized how TKO is running the promotion that once helped launch her into a global star while speaking at the press conference for her upcoming return to MMA to fight fellow legend Gina Carano <\/a>on May 16 on Netflix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said UFC used to be the best place for fighters to make a living and get paid fairly, and now it\u2019s no longer, before calling it \u201cone of the worst places to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronda Rousey poses with a clenched fist at a press conference. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Shafir, a current AEW star and one of the Four Horsemen of MMA with Rousey, Shayna Baszler, and Jessyman Duke, applauded her first for leading the challenger-brand charge with Jake Paul and former UFC executive Nakisa Bidarian\u2019s MVP Promotions for the first MMA card on Netflix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The UFC settled a landmark $375 million antitrust lawsuit<\/a> \u2014 Le vs. Zuffa \u2014 in 2025 and is facing another \u2014 Johnson vs. Zuffa \u2014 that alleged the company illegally suppressed fighter pay and holds a monopsony in the sport. Main stars making millions per fight can skew the figure for average income for UFC fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor her to swoop in and just get right in with the f\u2013king s\u2013t, but not only be right in with the f\u2013king s\u2013t, but she\u2019s just leading the goddam charge just like the trailblazer that she is,\u201d Shafir said in a Zoom interview. \u201cI think it\u2019s a wake-up call to a lot of people in the MMA world. Maybe some people got a little too comfortable. Maybe there are some people who got a little too greedy with some money. Maybe there are just some people who are trying to take advantage of fighters and performers who actually really f\u2013king care about this and know they have more to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0White tried to reassure UFC fighters about pay during a Zuffa Boxing event last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never a bad thing when guys make more money. It\u2019s always a good thing when there\u2019s more money in the sport,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd since 2001, fighter pay has gone [up] nonstop. Obviously, we just got a great television rights deal, I promise you that fighter pay is gonna be just fine over the next seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rousey-Carrano fight was offered to the UFC <\/a>while it was still running pay-per-views on ESPN.<\/p>\n

Rousey told Jim Rome that CEO Dana White was excited to put on the fight and offered her likely the most lucrative deal of her career if she hit her normal PPV buy numbers.<\/p>\n

But Carrano needed more to get ready and that deal was no longer financially feasible once the UFC inked its deal with Paramount, where fans have access to the card through a single subscription fee.<\/p>\n

Marina Shafir, an old friend of Ronda Rousey, is a former mixed martial artist turned pro wrestler who now competes in AEW. AEW<\/p>\n

Rousey, who isn\u2019t pinning any of this on White, believes there is no reason the UFC can\u2019t afford to pay its athletes at least a living wage or at least match what athletes are making in other sports. <\/p>\n

She thinks it\u2019s keeping the best athletes from choosing MMA and leading to the UFC losing some of its stars, such as former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who will face Philipe Lins on Rousey\u2019s Netflix undercard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis company just got $7.7 billion [from Paramount],\u201d Rousey said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason they can\u2019t afford to pay their athletes at least a living wage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronda Rousey speaks during the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and Netflix 5X5 Professional MMA bound pre-fight press conference outside the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on March 10, 2026. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Shafir, who will face \u201cTimeless\u201d Toni Storm at AEW Revolution on March 13 (8 p.m., HBO Max), still trains in MMA and is still around the sport. <\/p>\n

She said she\u2019s seen and had conversations with fighters who are struggling to make ends meet financially.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard right now,\u201d Shafir said. \u201cThe world is upside down and people are trying to make a living and there are people who are living and are f\u2013king up the whole goddam system.\u201d<\/p>\n

She credits Rousey for having the guts to speak up about it, \u201cguns a blazing,\u201d when others going through it might be too ashamed to tell their story, calling it unfortunate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cClassic Ronda,\u201d Shafir said. \u201cThat\u2019s my best friend right there. I was howling at the truth bombs. I was f\u2013king howling because she\u2019s not lying. People get afraid to say stuff. People are afraid to talk about their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the next time we might see Rousey in a wrestling ring, Shafir isn\u2019t certain now that she\u2019s taken on the challenge of helping MVP grow their MMA brand. Rousey\u2019s last two matches were teaming with Shafir in late 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just know, she\u2019s really in it with what she\u2019s doing and I selfishly always hope so, but we\u2019ll see,\u201d Shafir said. \u201cI don\u2019t know. I have no idea.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marina Shafir couldn\u2019t stop \u201chowling\u201d as best friend Ronda Rousey ripped into the UFC over the issue of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[269005,64,63,786,785,15809,85,787,20274],"class_list":["post-542986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-all-elite-wrestling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-ronda-rousey","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-wrestling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}