Ronda Rousey recently touched on Khabib Nurmagomedov\u2019s retirement from MMA as something that stands out as a microcosm of a more toxic side of the MMA fandom. This was expressed by the dominant former UFC bantamweight champion during a recent interview with Bert Kreischer.<\/p>\n
Rousey covered multiple topics and opined about the rigidity of mixed martial arts fans demanding perfection, otherwise, that fighter was never skilled to begin with. \u2018Rowdy\u2019 didn\u2019t just reference her own drop off as an example of that idea, but invoked the names of several prominent fighters who drew out the vitriol of fans for not being perfect.<\/p>\n
Rousey felt like some of Nurmagomedov\u2019s logic in retiring when he did was in part to go out while on top, but also not to give the fans a moment for them to tweet out things like \u2018hype train derailed\u2019 or something of that persuasion if the Dagestan great ever ended up having a misstep. Expounding upon her thoughts in this regard, Rousey said [via Bloody Elbow<\/a>],<\/p>\n \u201cI think the only reason why MMA fans have their lips so firmly planted at the base of Khabib\u2019s c\u2014 is because he retired before he reached his limit. If he kept fighting until he reached his limit, everybody would be like, \u2018Khabib [Nurmagomedov]<\/a> ain\u2019t s\u2014, he never was s\u2014\u2019. They\u2019re like that with everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cName one person. \u2018Brock [Lesnar] ain\u2019t s\u2014, he never was s\u2014\u2019. Name one past champion that has the kind of respect that the current champions do. It\u2019s really sad because I think it encourages people to get out while they\u2019re peaking and leaving and taking all of that equity with them instead of passing it on to whoever\u2019s next to take up the mantle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to retire undefeated because I was so afraid of everything that I accomplished is going to be nothing if I ever lose. So I have to retire undefeated. It wasn\u2019t until I got into the WWE and saw that wait, you have to retire on a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody in WWE has to retire on a loss because you have to pass that torch on, and I think everyone in MMA, they\u2019re going to try to take the torch with them because of how the fans respond to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ronda Rousey and the contrast between how legends are treated in WWE versus in the UFC<\/p>\n