Julianna Pena Blasts Ronda Rousey, Tries To Get Her to Come Out of MMA Retirement
Ronda Rousey has not competed in mixed martial arts since UFC 207 in December 2016, losing to Amanda Nunes 48 seconds into the first round in a failed attempt at winning back the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. The UFC Hall of Famer has since gotten married, had a child, launched her pro wrestling career with the WWE and sporadically continued her acting career, seemingly putting her MMA life behind her. But on an episode of The MMA Hour this week, current Bantamweight Champion Julianna Pena openly called out Rousey for choosing to leave the sport after back-to-back losses.
"Ronda is so old news, right?" Pena said (h/t MMA Fighting). "I think that what's incredible about her is that she opened up the door and was destroying people in 10 seconds, and became a star because she was demolishing people in the first round, and that's great — but she got knocked out twice and never came back. So how legit is she?
"She had to go to pro wrestling. And I get that and I think that that's great. But as a fighter and somebody who is competitive, I know that — deep down — it probably truly bothers her, the fact that she went away off of two knockout losses and never came back to make her name good. If it really truly does bother her and if it gets under her skin at the end of the day to know that, you know, her legacy is kind of ruined by the fact that she never came back and never got back on the horse, then I would like to invite her to please come back — and if she would like to come back, I would welcome her with open arms," she continued.
Pena added — "That's what I'm saying, she's kind of a joke in the MMA world now, because she's a — what is the word? — sellout. Like, a little bit of a sellout there. I mean, I guess I understand, right? It's like, pro wrestling is fake, you get paid millions of dollars, I get it. But for me, for real s— for like the 'you're the real, real deal,' I would say that that's in the UFC. And if she ever wants any of that real smoke, I'm ready."
But the champ wasn't done. She started talking about Rousey's WrestleMania 38 match this past weekend and said she's a fan, but then took shots at Rousey's ring gear.
"I thought she had a great [WrestleMania] match," Pena said. "I thought she was very good, yes. And this is just from girl to girl as a fan -- I'm a fan and I think that she's great and I'm happy for her, and I think that it's awesome what she's doing in the WWE -- but as a fan, she either needs to be more comfortable in her own skin or needs to figure out a different attire, because every move that she does, there becomes a wardrobe fix. You know what I mean?"
Will this trash talk lead to a comeback for Rousey? Or will she ignore the entire thing? Tell us your thoughts down in the comments!