The period of time where Ronda Rousey was on top of the UFC is considered by many as one of the most star-studded eras in the history of the sport. She was defending her UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship at the same time as Conor McGregor’s rise to fame, Jon Jones’ domination of the light heavyweight division, and the UFC becoming a mainstream sport, but these days the star power in the UFC is a lot more scarce. Rousey was asked about this and she believes that the UFC doesn’t want people to be as big as they were a few years ago.

“I think that they don’t want that star power anymore, they want the brand to be the star,” Rousey said. “That’s why they stopped naming the fights cards and started giving them numbers. That’s why they started putting everybody in a uniform and trying to stamp out their individuality, they want people to watch the brand. That’s why when you have big stars like Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou knowing their worth and demanding more money, they’re telling them to go kick rocks instead of paying them what they’re worth because they think that they’re too big to fail, and that there’s nowhere else to go.”

Rousey believes that the powers that be in the UFC don’t want any fighter eclipsing the company in terms of popularity ever again as it would give that fighter leverage over the UFC. This is why Rousey is such a big fan of what Jake Paul and MVP have been doing with things like the Mike Tyson fight in 2025, bringing combat sports back to people getting attached to the fighters, and paying to see the individuals rather than the letters that are attached to the event.

Please credit “Complex” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.