“They Refused to Pay Me”: Ronda Rousey Exposes the Record-Breaking UFC Offer That Was Pulled Off the Table
In a revelation that is sending shockwaves through the combat sports world, former UFC bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey is pulling back the curtain on a massive payday that never happened. Speaking candidly on The Jim Rome Show, “Rowdy” detailed her explosive attempt to return to the Octagon—not just for any fight, but for a legendary showdown with Gina Carano that would have broken the bank.
According to Rousey, the ball got rolling when she personally pitched the idea to UFC boss Dana White. And his reaction? It was a dead giveaway.
“I can tell when he’s super excited about something, because he stutters,” Rousey revealed. “He was stuttering all over the voice memo. I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s down.’”
The timing felt perfect. Rousey reached out to Carano, who was already preparing for the moment, having dropped 25 pounds in anticipation. “That walk back into the cage again is something that she’s always wanted to do,” Rousey added. “She was down from the first mention of it.”
But the real fireworks started when it came time to talk money. Rousey, who famously carried the UFC on her back during her historic title reign, wasn’t about to settle for a standard contract. She went straight to White with a simple but powerful demand: “Reward me for it. Don’t punish me for being easy to work with. Give me the best deal you ever gave anybody.”
To her shock, he agreed. Rousey claims White returned with an offer that would have paid her more per pay-per-view buy than any fighter in the history of the sport. “If I hit my historical numbers, which I know we would have been able to succeed, I would have made as much as I did in my entire career,” she said.
So, why did fans never get to see Rousey vs. Carano 2.0? The answer, according to Rousey, lies in corporate greed and a massive media rights deal.
She explains that while she was ready to sign, Carano needed more time to prepare. That delay pushed the potential fight into a new window where the UFC’s relationship with ESPN was ending and a massive $7.7 billion deal with Paramount was beginning.
“They didn’t want to set a precedent of giving me the guaranteed money that I deserve, because once I raise that tide, it lifts all the boats,” Rousey claimed.
In a stunning accusation, she suggested that the new corporate structure handcuffed Dana White. “Dana’s now legally obligated to maximize shareholder value,” she explained. “Now that they’ve sold the company, it’s kind of out of Dana’s hands… It no longer made sense for me to go over there, because they didn’t want to pay us the money that we deserve. Because then for the rest of the time of the deal, they’re going to have to pay everybody else more.”
With the UFC door seemingly closed for good, Rousey hinted that the massive deal—and the dream fight with Carano—is something she’ll now have to take elsewhere.
