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WWE Superstar Shayna Baszler believes Ronda Rousey gets a lot of unwanted hate for her UFC career.
The Queen of Spades has been close friends with Ronda since the latter's UFC days. The duo are members of the Four Horsewomen of the UFC. Before joining WWE, Ronda often used to be spotted in the audience during Baszler's bouts in NXT.
Speaking to Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast, Shayna detailed why fans' criticism of the Baddest Women on the Planet bothers her:
"If someone were to say something like, 'Name the top three women's fighters of all time.' If I put Ronda in that list, immediately, they're like, 'Nope, she got exposed.' Even now, it's bothering me in a hypothetical. Just because she lost and you didn't like her personality, you're letting it cloud the fact that she changed women's fighting. There wouldn't be women in the UFC, at least not for a while, if it wasn't for her. To deny that she did great things, to discredit her just because she had a loss and you didn't like her personality." (h/t- fightful)
Shayna Baszler believes fans perceive Ronda Rousey differently because she took her defeat to heart:
Before becoming a WWE Star in 2017, Ronda Rousey was one of the most dominant female fighters in UFC history. The Rowdy One began her MMA career with a 12-0 win streak.
Ronda was the first UFC Women's Bantamweight champion before losing to Holly Holm in 2015. Rousey returned just over a year later, but Amanda Nunes shocked the world by beating her in just 48 seconds at UFC 207.
Speaking about the bout on the same podcast, Shayna detailed that maybe fans would have seen Ronda Rousey in a different light if she behaved humbly after the loss:
"I feel like if she [Ronda Rousey] had lost and then came on a podcast and been like, 'I lost,' and been super humble and not Ronda, not herself, people would say she's the greatest ever, but because she lost and took it to heart and hated it, people hate her, so they have to discredit everything about it. That's annoying to me. I can say that I might not enjoy that Amanda Nunes beat Ronda and talked smack about her after, but I can say that Amanda Nunes is one of the best women's fighters of all-time. I can do that. It bothers me that regular fans can't do that."
Ronda is currently embroiled in a feud with Shayna's partner, Natalya, on the blue brand. The duo will face each other at Money in the Bank for the former's coveted title. It'll be interesting to see if WWE uses Shayna Baszler in the storyline as the Queen of Spades has a lot of history with Rousey.
