Ben Rothwell: If Ronda Rousey can't rally after two losses, 'she's a loser and never was a champion'

Everyone has an opinion on what should be next for Ronda Rousey following her crushingly unsuccessful return to the octagon against Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 this past month.

UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell is right there in the discussion, but his thoughts aren’t restricted to just the former champion.

Rothwell (36-10 MMA, 6-4 UFC), who was not a fan of Rousey’s (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) antics and media blackout ahead of her 48-second TKO loss to Nunes (14-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) for the women’s bantamweight title, is also not particularly fond of Rousey’s boyfriend, fellow UFC heavyweight Travis Browne (18-5-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC).

In fact, Rothwell not only took shots at Browne’s fighting ability during a recent interview on Sirius XM’s “Fight Club,” but also his assumed motivation to be with Rousey.

“I have no problems talking (expletive) on him because he brings (expletive) on himself,” Rothwell said. “He’s one of the guys – I try to be nice to him and cool, and the more I learn about him, the more of his history, he’s one of those guys that’s just a man-whore. He’s a phony, and a lot of (expletive) pisses me off with him. Why did you suddenly leave a great camp that made him good and move to a (expletive) gym that’s got a lot of guys losing? For me, I think it was a financial thing. He went there and found a sugar mama in his girlfriend. He’s just looking to get himself taken care of.

“He’s got some brains in, like, ‘Why should I fight? I’ll just get her to pay for everything.’ It’s a good financial move on his part, but it hasn’t done his personal career any good and a lot of people think the guy has regressed and he’s not getting any better. He’s lost his footwork, he’s lost a lot of different things that made him good. We’re going to find out with Derrick Lewis. Is the guy going to get motivated? That’s one thing about our sport you can look like you’re just out of it and forgotten about then next thing you know you can resurge yourself.”

One thing that won’t help an athlete resurge her career, Rothwell said, is to avoid the media. Rousey implemented a strict media blackout for herself and her team ahead of UFC 207, something that was unprecedented for any UFC fighter, let alone a superstar headliner. Although the decision to avoid all interviews may have brought some additional intrigue to Rousey’s comeback from a 13-month layoff, Rothwell said it wasn’t the smart play.

“It’s taken (me) only 17 years to figure this out, because we need the media and if the fighters ever forget that the media is the reason we are here,” Rothwell said. “I fought in the dark ages. The media’s the only reason the sport survived. This sport was going to get banned at one time and I was there for all that (expletive). I didn’t fight for fame and money. I fought because I love to fight and the media is the reason this thing blew up and got where it’s at. We do all need to work together. We’re a team in this thing.

We all do need to work together, and I think a lot of it was she was really embarrassed at all the (expletive) she said. People were bringing it back, and that’s the unfortunate thing that that can happen. But we still need to give people something to talk about. At the end of the day, who gives a (expletive)? She just made $10 million-plus dollars, so who really won? You’re going to be all right. I think blacking it out made it look the wrong way.”

Rousey’s next move after UFC 207 is a mystery. She released a brief statement following the fight, however, it failed to provide any solid insight about her future. After starting her career on a 12-fight winning streak “Rowdy” has dropped back-to-back fights by memorable knockout. Considering her financial success in the sport, it’s safe to assume she doesn’t need to fight again, but whether she does will be telling of her fighting spirit, Rothwell said.

“What matters is now,” Rothwell said. “What’s she going to do now? What matters is six months from now if she walks away from the sport and never fights again, she never has to have her name brought up again. If she can’t come back from everything she’s been through and being put on such a high pedestal and making waves, then she loses two fights and she doesn’t come back from that? Well, then she’s a loser and she never was a champion.

Like him or hate him, but Conor McGregor man, what an example. The guy loses, does the media, comes back, wins a fight and then wins a title fight. Dominick Cruz, like him or hate him, he faced the media (after losing his title) and treated it like a champion. They set the bar for the rest of us. That’s how we need to act, that’s how you handle a loss and she needs to learn from the rest of us now.”

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