The upcoming MMA fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on Netflix is just as much about the underlying tensions around combat sports as it is about the winner of the match.
And after Rousey took the first shot in the lead-up to the May 16 fight in L.A. by revealing she cut off talks with UFC over pay, she went even further on Tuesday at a press conference.
Answering a question about a seemingly underwhelming UFC “Freedom 250” card and Jon Jones’ request to be let go by the company, Rousey shredded the UFC for forcing athletes to live at “poverty level” and “bleeding” future talent in the name of payouts to shareholders.
“It used to be that the UFC was the best place that you could come in combat sports to make a living and be paid fairly, and now it’s no longer, it’s one of the worst places to go,” Rousey said.
“It’s why so many of their top athletes are leaving to go and find pay elsewhere. It’s why their champions like Valentina (Shevchenko) are selling pictures of their titties on OnlyFans, you know? These people, a lot of them at the ground level, they can’t even support their families. They’re living poverty level, fighting full-time.”
Ronda Rousey on the UFC: “This company just got $7.7 billion. There’s no reason they can’t afford to pay their athletes at least a living wage.” #RouseyCarano
Saturday, May 16
LIVE on Netflix pic.twitter.com/hlykuIixQU— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) March 10, 2026
The supremacy of UFC in MMA promotion has repeatedly been linked by analysts to depressed wages for fighters. A recent story at Uncrowned revealed that the UFC falls below industry standards on several counts when it comes to paying fighters. The piece cited data from a court settlement showing that from 2016-23, the UFC redistributed just 16.8% of its revenue to fighters.
And that was all before the company signed a groundbreaking seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount for live rights to its events.
Rousey crushed the UFC for continuing to under-invest in its athletes, even after the breakthrough distribution deal.
“This company just got $7.7 billion. Like, there’s no reason that they can’t afford to pay their athletes at least a living wage, and not even that, to at least be able to match what these athletes are making in other sports,” she said.
“Why would they expect to get the best athletes and the best aspiring kids who want to be something, into MMA? Why not go into boxing, why not go into football, why not go into anything else? So they’re bleeding talent because of their short-term greed. They’re thinking about the next quarter, they’re thinking about the shareholders, and they’re not thinking about their responsibility to be stewards of the future of the sport.”
The immediate attention around these comments is also notable given that video of Rousey was published by Netflix. As the streamer attempts to act as a home for combat sports, its partnership with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions makes it a competitor to UFC and Zuffa Boxing, both of which are overseen by Dana White with fights aired on Paramount platforms.
When Rousey was a top star at the UFC in her prime, she was one of its highest-paid fighters due in large part to her own enormous popularity.
Rousey told Jim Rome last month that without being able to pocket a portion of pay-per-view sales now that Paramount has done away with that model, she was able to make far more money from Paul’s MVP and Netflix.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.