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Kayla Harrison - Ronda Rousey
Credit: Getty
HIGHLIGHTS
- A former champion went further on the mic than she ever did in her WWE run, and the target had a very simple answer.
- The grocery store line may be the most personal shot thrown in women's MMA in years.
- Two promotions, one contract, and a neck injury stand between this trash talk and an actual fight.
Ronda Rousey had a lot to say about Kayla Harrison on Wednesday during the latest presser to promote MVP MMA 1 on Netflix. Rousey unleashed an epic rant that quite honestly bests everything she ever did on the mic with WWE. Rousey brought receipts and line after line of mean-spirited lines for Harrison, the current UFC women's bantamweight champion.
Harrison responded, but she didn't bother trying to go bar for bar with Ronda Rousey. She kept it short and not so sweet. Harrison took to X and posted: "FIGHT ME DEN."
What Should People Know About the Exchange?
Harrison's personality has a bit more flavor than Rousey gives her credit, but she's not a huge trash talker like her rival. The two women have history — as Harrison once told me in an interview, "I've been chasing Ronda seems like my whole life." Both had a storied history as judokas in the Olympics, and Harrison followed Rousey's lead into MMA, though her career began with the PFL.
Rousey accused Harrison of lying about their shared judo history, mocked her charisma as that of a "damp towel," and claimed she once helped Harrison buy groceries when she was broke — only for Harrison to turn around and trash her publicly.
Harrison had fired the first shots by calling Rousey and Carano "irrelevant," labeling Rousey’s judo story a "blatant lie," and saying a fight with Rousey would be "free money." At this point Harrison would be a heavy favorite if they ever met, but she'd need to be out of contract with the UFC to make it happen. As the Rousey-Carano full card breakdown shows, it appears Rousey is trying to build something huge with MVP.
What's Next for This Feud?
There won't be anything more than talk for at least a year. Harrison is rehabbing from a neck injury ahead of a potentially epic title defense against former champion and women's MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes.
Rousey will likely handle Gina Carano easily, record another major promo or two, and keep building her profile on Netflix even bigger than it already is.
The back-and-forth is good for both women’s exposure in the meantime. Truth is, we may never see them fight — the promotional walls between the UFC and MVP are real, and contracts don't bend easily for anyone. But "FIGHT ME DEN" is now out there, and in combat sports, words like that have a way of aging into actual events when the timing lines up.
The UFC 327 takeaways piece captured how quickly the landscape can shift when the right matchup finds its moment.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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