Former UFC commentator Jimmy Smith has opened up about why he recently called out Ronda Rousey’s behavior towards the MMA media. The remarks came after Rousey, during a book tour promoting her new autobiography, claimed the MMA media turned against her during her downfall and cited commentators like Joe Rogan as examples.
Smith, a veteran voice in the MMA world, didn’t hold back in his response on his podcast. He accused Rousey of displaying “contempt” towards UFC production staff behind the scenes and alleged there were reports of her mistreatment and disrespect circulating within the organization.
Days later, Smith doubled down, explaining his motivation for putting Rousey “on blast.” He claimed Rousey was misrepresenting the truth to non-MMA audiences by painting herself as a victim of a media witch hunt.
“Ronda Rousey is doing a book tour right now where she said, ‘I’m not talking with MMA media. F them’. What does that do? It puts her in front of a lot of people who are going to sit there and nod when she says, ‘fans turned on me… I’m the greatest to ever do it,'” Smith stated. “She is in front of non-experts about our sport.”
Smith took issue with Rousey insulting the MMA media he was part of and misleading casual audiences unfamiliar with the real reasons many fans soured on the former UFC star. He cited infamous incidents like refusing to shake Miesha Tate’s hand after a loss and getting in Holly Holm’s face as Contributing factors.
“They all [fans] booed when you didn’t shake Miesha Tate’s hand. Did you regret that? Didn’t you get on Holly Holm’s face, one of the nicest women in MMA?” Smith challenged. “The criticism [was] that when you were winning, you were extremely vocal about yourself and skill and as soon as you lost you went on a media blackout.”
With his candid comments, Smith made it clear he took umbrage with Rousey’s revisionist rhetoric and wasn’t going to let her accusations towards the MMA media go unchallenged.