Nearly a decade removed from her UFC reign, Ronda Rousey still knows how to command headlines and spark controversy. During a recent fiery appearance with comedian Bert Kreischer on his podcast, the former UFC bantamweight queen didn’t just defend her legacy. She swung at fans, took a swipe at Khabib Nurmagomedov, and then fired a direct shot at Joe Rogan.

Kreischer joked about training to fight Ronda. Rogan’s name entered the chat. Ronda pounced. “He wouldn’t know,” she said bluntly. “He’s not an expert, he’s a fan with an audience.” Asked about Rogan’s taekwondo background? The shrug was louder than the words as she continued, “Never fought. That’s not fighting. That’s not fighting.” This wasn’t playful banter. It felt personal. And for many, it was surprising. After all, Rogan was once one of her loudest supporters. He famously said she could even beat Floyd Mayweather and praised her with almost reverence. So why attack him now? That’s where Chael Sonnen stepped in and delivered the reality check.

Chael Sonnen goes off on Ronda Rousey’s latest remarks about Joe Rogan

Speaking on a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen broke it down with surgical precision. He first pointed out that ‘Rowdy’s tone didn’t feel like showmanship as he confessed, “Ronda went heel, Ronda turned heel on Rogan to Kreischer, who is Rogan’s friend. Great, we’re going to make some entertainment. My takeaway though as I sat and I watched that is, that it wasn’t a performance. It wasn’t a character in front of a camera that decided to go heel.”

He admitted he could be “a mark,” but believed it was real emotion. Hurt feelings. A lashing-out moment. And then he dropped the hammer as he continued, “That’s the part that you got wrong, they were never with you and they never loved you. And there’s nothing mean about that. It’s called being a fan.”

That isn’t betrayal, it’s human nature in sports. More importantly, he claimed Ronda Rousey herself has done the same as he shared, “And Ronda is a fan of things too. I don’t know what those might be. Maybe it was a judo player and an amateur and it was USA, but she’s not still with them. She herself did the very thing that she’s having a hard time accepting happened to her.”

‘The Bad Guy’ then went chapter by chapter through her career. He said the U.S. Judo team “would love” to have had her around, but she left when she was done. The WWE “would love” to have had her media presence, but she walked away.

And in the UFC? He continued in the video, “When she was a big star in the UFC and the one person that could get on Ellen’s couch, the moment that she left the UFC, she stopped showing up to events. She stopped cornering people. She stopped doing meet… she stopped participating. When she was done with that toy, she put it in the corner and moved on to something else.  But when people did that to her, it was supposed to be some kind of like a grave insult and it wasn’t an insult at all.”

There’s a sting in hearing Chael Sonnen say she left communities behind just like fans left her. But as he ended in his video, “But the part that she got wrong is the idea that everybody hates her. They don’t hate her. They never loved her to start with.”

‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey is one of those athletes that managed to transcend the sport to levels of superstardom rarely seen, only rivalled and surpassed by ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor. The difference is, the Irishman has managed to keep himself relevant despite losing devastatingly inside the Octagon, and with those out-of-sport controversies he repeatedly found himself in; things that would be able to derail anyone’s career.

With Ronda Rousey, she changed the industry, particularly for women’s MMA. But the sport she ruled evolved. And nostalgia doesn’t protect legacies from time or from hurt feelings, but as we mentioned earlier, that didn’t stop her from taking a jab at not just Rogan, but Khabib Nurmagomedov too!

Rousey admits to being “afraid” of losing as she takes a swipe at ‘The Eagle’

So, after firing at the UFC color commentator, where did Ronda Rousey turn next? Straight toward another legend, Khabib Nurmagomedov. If calling Joe Rogan “a fan with an audience” raised eyebrows, what she said about ‘The Eagle’ had jaws hitting the mat. And here’s the twist: this wasn’t just about him. It was about legacy, fear, and how fans treat champions the moment they fall. But did she make a fair point, or did she poke a hornet’s nest she wasn’t ready for?

Speaking with Kreischer, Rousey stated, “I think the only reason why MMA fans have their lips so firmly planted at the base of Khabib’s c— is because he retired before he reached his limit. If he kept fighting until he reached his limit, everybody would be like, ‘Khabib ain’t sh—, he never was sh–.”

She argued fans flip fast, just like they did with Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, and Anderson Silva; once “a mythical creature,” now criticized in retirement. The message was clear: in ‘Rowdy’s eyes, MMA fandom doesn’t honor legends, it recycles them. She continued, “I wanted to retire undefeated because I was so afraid of everything that I accomplished is going to be nothing if I ever lose. So I have to retire undefeated.”

There’s truth in her logic, the sport does move fast, and respect fades quicker than highlight reels. But Khabib Nurmagomedov didn’t run; he left after winning against elite names like Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Rafael dos Anjos. That resume doesn’t whisper insecurity; it roars dominance.

As such, Chael Sonnen‘s critique cut deep because it echoed what many fans felt: this wasn’t the confident champion from 2015, but a pioneer wrestling with the way her story shifted once the lights dimmed. And when she turned her fire toward Khabib Nurmagomedov, it only magnified the debate. Is she exposing a hard truth about MMA’s fickle culture, or reliving old wounds through sharper words? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!