Should relationships like Rousey-Browne be part of news cycle? Fighters discuss

When UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and heavyweight contender Travis Browne recently confirmed they’re in a relationship, is it worth covering? Should it be part of the news cycle?

Based on traffic alone, a lot of MMA (and mainstream) sites have a reason to follow such personal matters. Rousey, after all, issued a statement to ESPN confirming the relationship after Browne first revealed it, which quickly dominated the news cycle.

Sure, people clicked (and here we are discussing it again). Some MMA fans are interested, at least when it’s Rousey.

We asked fellow fighters for their thoughts on private-life matters hitting the news cycle.

“Everything’s about Ronda Rousey right now,” UFC featherweight Darren Elkins said. “She’s huge, so anything about a relationship or anything she’s doing is going to be on the press. (But) it’s not like a big thing that’s news.”

The Rousey-Browne situation, of course, is rather unique. Rousey is undoubtedly the sport’s most popular star right now and has further pushed MMA into the mainstream, and Browne was recently reinstated to the UFC roster after the UFC’s investigation into domestic-violence allegations from his wife resulted in “inconclusive evidence.”

Still, should relationship statuses by part of the news cycle? Check out a mixture of fighters’ reactions above. And regardless of your feelings, we’ll turn to former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski for some thoughts on the relationship itself.

“If they enjoy each other, God bless them,” he said.

For more on the UFC’s schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.