Ronda Rousey is really not a fan of UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.
On Saturday, Rousey makes her return to MMA after a 10-year retirement, fighting Gina Carano in the main event of the first ever MVP MMA card in Inglewood, Calif. The bout could end up as the most-viewed MMA event of all time, and Rousey originally approached the UFC about promoting the fight, but that didn’t come to pass, in part due to disagreements between Rousey and Campbell. And “Rowdy” more than lived up to her name when talking about Campbell with Yahoo Sports on Monday.
“It wasn’t personal. Well, with Hunter it was personal, because he was just a f*cking asshole about it,” Rousey said of her decision to compete outside of the UFC. “He was just being such a chauvinist prick, and he was being so dismissive. Just trying to get me and Gina to value ourselves less from the get-go, and acting like this isn’t the greatest thing that’s fallen into his lap since he’s been there.
“He was like, ‘Oh, you guys are just so much older, and I just don’t know how it’s going to do.’ Like, who the f*ck is this guy? … But then Dana mentioned he wanted me and Gina to fight for the 145 title, because it was vacant, as a way to retire the belt. And then Hunter was like, ‘Yeah, then we can get rid of that division.’ Just the way that he spoke of it, how dismissive he was, and the disdain that he had for the fighters at that weight.
“Motherf*cker, my husband is 6’7. My girls are not going to be 135. This is what you think? Women that are heavier than 135 pounds can’t offer you anything? That they’re worthless? That they’re worth scoffing at? It just really rubbed me the wrong way. Like, this f*cking guy is the person that’s going to be shepherding the company that I helped build? It really rubbed me the wrong way.”
Rousey also has some family history with Campbell. Rousey’s mother served on the California Athletic Commission when the UFC was pushing for the legalization of Power Slap in the state, and according to Rousey, Campbell’s remarks in defense of Power Slap were less than flattering.
“‘This is a really big opportunity for these people. A lot of these guys would just be doing meth in a trailer park if it wasn’t for this,’ Rousey said her mother told her.
“That’s what you think of the fighters?! We are glorified bum fights to this guy. This guy does not have a job because he’s good at it. He has a job because he’s Dana and Lorenzo’s lawyer’s son. He was a f*cking intern when I was there before. And now he’s coming up to me saying, ‘I don’t know how you and Gina are going to do.’ Motherf*cker, I’m gonna put on a bigger fight with Gina than you have your entire f*cking career.
“Keep trying to fail upwards, motherf*cker. Keep trying to suck the right dicks in the right order. I’m f*cking coming for your job. You f*cking pissed off the wrong bitch.”
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