‘Big’ John McCarthy weighs in on Jimmy Smith’s claim that everyone ‘fuckin’ hated Ronda Rousey

On May 3, 2024By Vaseline

Former UFC referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy doesn’t agree with the idea that everyone hated Ronda Rousey behind the scenes, but he believes the women’s MMA pioneer needs to face the truth when it comes to her losses in the Octagon.

Rousey was, is and forever will be one of the greatest names in combat sports history. After UFC CEO Dana White spent years insisting women would never compete in the Octagon, it was Rousey who changed his tune and paved the way for women to step onto mixed martial arts’ biggest stage.

Unfortunately, as quickly as her rise came, so too did her fall. After dominating the competition under both the Strikeforce and UFC banners, ‘Rowdy’ hit a brick wall at UFC 193 in the name of Holly Holm. Rousey, as always, entered the fight as the heavy favorite but was outclassed by ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ from the opening bell until Holm finished her with a perfectly timed head kick less than a minute into the second round. A year later, Rousey was completely out of the sport.

Recently, Rousey has returned to the MMA headlines, apologizing for her last two lackluster performances in the UFC and claiming that many of her biggest supporters, including former commentator Joe Rogan, turned on her after she stopped racking up wins.

Rousey tearing up during a recent episode of Unlocking the Cage on SiriusXM was Jimmy Smith, a former UFC and WWE commentator, who absolutely shredded ‘Rowdy’ while claiming that virtually everyone in the promotion hated her.

“The people behind the scenes; camera people, audio people, the people you can wander around and bully and talk to, can’t stand your goddamn ass,” Smith said. “Everyone behind the scenes who had to put a microphone on Ronda Rousey couldn’t stand her. I said why?’ They said, ‘She was a bitch to us from the moment she sat down to the moment she stood up.’

Former WWE commentator Jimmy Smith takes a dig at Ronda Rousey and gives insight into what it was like for people to work with her and how people behind the scenes couldn’t stand her.

(through @MMAonSiriusXM) pic.twitter.com/barvYzYDws

—Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) May 1, 2024

John McCarthy Responds to More Ronda Rousey Apologies, Claims ‘Everyone Hated Her’

John McCarthy, referee and analyst, responded to Smith’s comments. He weighed in during an episode of his WEIGHING IN podcast with co-host Josh Thomson about Rousey’s reputation behind the scenes and her continued status as a sore loser.

“Treat people the way you would want to be treated and if Ronda didn’t do that then that’s on her, but the whole thing he’s putting out here about everyone hating her, no,” McCarthy said. ‘Not everyone hated her. Let’s just be honest about that. When it comes to the losses, you lost. You were defeated by someone better than you. That’s all there is to it. You can sit there and say, ‘Oh, I had a concussion’ and stuff like that. Many fighters have suffered concussions, but that night in Australia, Holly Holm was the better fighter.

“She had a better game plan. She executed things much better. She made you swing into the wind and run into the cage. Sometimes she would make you turn around to the point where she could deliver a head kick that would knock you out. You were hurt at the time anyway, but these are things that happened. Someone got the upper hand and was the better fight that night and the same thing happened against Amanda Nunes.

A year after her painful loss to Holly Holm, Rousey tried to hit the reset button in a UFC 207 clash with ‘The Lioness’. This time, ‘Rowdy’ wouldn’t even make it past the first minute, suffering a 48-second knockout loss to Nunes.

“There’s always a changing of the guard and you have to have enough respect for them and their skills to say you’ve got the best of me,” McCarthy added. “Maybe I can change that another night, but a lot of people find it hard to lose because winning is so important to them that the thought of losing is like death.”

Josh Thomson ultimately sided with McCarthy’s statement, adding that Rousey was never competitive with Holm and arguing that she wasn’t mentally present against Amanda Nunes.

“She was never involved in those fights,” Thomson added. “It would be absurd to say otherwise. She was never involved in the fight with Holly Holm. She was beaten from pillar to post. And the same goes for Amanda Nunes. It didn’t even seem like she was mentally in that fight.”

John McCarthy Responds to More Ronda Rousey Apologies, Claims ‘Everyone Hated Her’

Watch the full episode below: