Ronda Rousey responds to ‘cleft-lip Lincoln’ Khamzat Chimaev and his criticism, blasts Kayla Harrison again

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 14: Ronda Rousey speaks during the Press Conference for Netflix's Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano at Intuit Dome on May 14, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix) | Getty Images for Netflix Ronda Rousey doesn’t have a bad word to say about Gina Carano ahead of their fight on Saturday but that’s certainly not true when it comes to other fighters who have name dropped her lately.

As she prepares for her first fight in 10 years, Rousey has faced criticism from several high profile fighters including former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev. As he prepared for his recent matchup against Sean Strickland at UFC 328, Chimaev took exception to Rousey insulting the UFC and how the organization treats its athletes as part of her promotional push leading to the Carano fight. “There never would have been Ronda Rousey without the UFC,” Chimaev said on his YouTube channel .

“I hate this. If they pay good or they don’t pay good, who cares? When she was Olympic champ, what did she make then?

” Rousey promised to respond to Chimaev during the pre-fight press conference and she wasted no time unloading on the Chechen native when his comments were brought up to her on Thursday. “I would want to make something abundantly clear and that’s I owe Dana [White] and the Fertitta’s immensely,” Rousey said. “I would be caught dead before you ever heard me say a bad thing about any of them.