Ronda Rousey has called on more MMA fighters to think like professional wrestlers in one specific regard. 

Speaking during the Media Scrum following the MVP MMA press conference in New York on Wednesday, Rousey conceded that MMA is a legitimate sport but added that it didn’t mean it had to be without a story. 

“It’s sport, but like the Olympics is a sport and people only watch it every four years because it’s not entertainment. I mean I’m not gonna watch swimming every weekend, sorry. People need to realize that, yes they are athletes, they are doing a sport, but it is your job to also be an entertainer and to get people interested in your fight.”

Rousey said she draws on her experience with WWE in professional wrestling from 2017-23 on and off, thinking about what she can do to make her fights more interesting and sell fans on more than just the actual sport of it.

“Something I kind of learned in pro wrestling is, every time we would have a match we would ask ourselves, ‘What’s the story of the match?’ So I would advise everybody in MMA, any match-up uou have, think, ‘What is the story of my match? What is something unique that just the two of us bring to the table that you would never see in any other match-up?'”

“Put a lot of thought into it, don’t just show up and be like, ‘I don’t really care because I’m too cool for this.’ Like right yeah you’re really awesome, you’re so cool but it’s not your job to be cool. It’s to get people to watch your f***ing fight so please think about it.”

Rousey will be fighting Gina Carano in her comeback fight streaming on Netflix on May 16, headlining the first MVP MMA event. They have both been putting over the redemption and closure element of their returns, Rousey coming 10 years since she was knocked out in less than a minute by Amanda Nunes, and Carano coming 17 years since she was defeated similarly in round one by Cris Cyborg.

Gina Carano has said she initially wanted her comeback fight against Ronda Rousey to be staged by UFC.

Carano will be making her return for the first time in 17 years as she fights Rousey, returning herself for the first time in a decade, on May 16. The bout has billed as a redemption, a return, and a true retirement for the women’s MMA pioneers, and while it will be the first MMA event to stream on Netflix that wasn’t always the way things had been intended. 

Carano confirmed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that she had first started to prepare for a potential comeback bout in September 2024, though she said she had a long way to go. 

“[Dana White] was like, ‘Okay, how about you’ll fight at the end of 2025, December?’ And I was like, ‘Well I still have a lot of weight to rip off, but okay.’ Then Ronda got a hold of me and there was just a lot happening between Ronda, UFC, Dana, and MVP, Nakisa [Bidarian] … I mean, I didn’t really have that much negotiating power except the fact that Ronda wants to fight me. I’m the only one she wants to fight. So I was just like, ‘Ronda, go for it. I’m cool either way.'”

Carano clarified that White reached out regarding the fight with Rousey, giving her a deadline of December 2025, which she agreed to. By this point, she had yet to discuss any numbers but said she knew that was something to come further down the line. 

“I really wanted to do UFC,” she said. “Make that walk. But, you know, I think that Ronda, like she led the way… I don’t know [how close it got to being official]. That would be between Ronda and Dana. She led the way 1000%. I just said yes.”

Oba Femi is taking on his biggest challenge yet at this year’s WWE WrestleMania, as he’s set to face “The Beast Incarnate,” Brock Lesnar. Femi has experienced a quick ascension following his dominant NXT tenure, but Ricky Saints wasn’t caught off-guard by his former opponent’s success.

“I’m not surprised, I am completely not surprised that he is the one to take on Brock Lesnar,” Saints said during an interview with TMZ. Saints added that Femi is not what one would expect in the ring, and that he only realized how good he was when they worked together. “I think he has every tool to be successful in wrestling.” Saints further expressed that seeing Femi’s stature in person also puts his dominance into perspective.

That wasn’t the first time that Saints has praised Femi, either. The WWE star previously highlighted Femi, Je’Von Evans, and Trick Williams for all breaking through the NXT system and establishing themselves on the main roster. Saints further emphasized that the three men are some of the best the brand has to offer, and that it makes sense that they’ve all been called up at this point. While he’s yet to be called up at the time of writing and his interview, Saints has enjoyed seeing Femi, Evans, and Williams find success on the main roster.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “TMZ’s Inside The Ring” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.