Ahead of her MMA fight with Gina Carano on Saturday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, Ronda Rousey told The Takedown on SI, that she is aware women are headlining WWE because of her. She added that women are also headlining and making big money in boxing due to her.
“I’m very aware that women are headlining WWE because of me. That women are headlining and making big paydays in boxing because of me. In bare-knuckle boxing, in full-contact karate, in everything that’s a contact sport. I’m very, very proud of seeing all the success the women are having, because I was able to prove their commercial viability, and everyone’s trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle.”
Rousey also was asked about her her time in WWE, as she had two runs in the company – 2017–2019 and then 2022–2023, where she was a Women’s Raw, SmackDown and Tag Team Champion.
“Yeah, I had a great time,” Rousey said while smiling. “I love playing a real heel. Not trying to be the cool-guy heel, or trying to be like, ‘oh, this is just my character.’ Because I feel like that’s what kayfabe is now: people don’t know the difference between the show and the reality, and I wanted to play that up as much as possible. I am me regardless of whether I’m in the ring or not.” She added that she had the time of her life in the ring with the other girls, but dealing with Vince McMahon was a also challenging.
“The time I was in the ring with the girls, I was having the time of my life. Dealing with Vince McMahon was a f—ing s— show. I can’t pretend otherwise. But being in the ring and actually doing it with those women, was an incredible experience. Not knowing what was going to happen until the very last minute,” Rousey said. “You’re literally going out there and you have no time to practice what you’re going to do. You just talked about it in the hallway. I felt like it was a huge missed opportunity.”
On Saturday, when Rousey steps back into the Octagon, this will be her first fight since December 30, 2026 when she lost to Amanda Nunes by TKO early in the first round in the main event at UFC 207.
Rousey vs. Carano airs live on Netflix, beginning at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT.
You can watch/listen to the full interview with Rousey below.