Ronda Rousey details unexpected MMA teamup before return: ‘I hated his guts’

MMA and pro-wrestling veteran Ronda Rousey is now all set to make her MMA comeback against Gina Carano next month. However, weeks before her return, the UFC Hall of Famer announced a surprising team-up with one of her “enemies.”

Parting ways with MMA in 2016, Rousey began a career in pro-wrestling, where she spent several years. A WWE WrestleMania main-eventer, Rousey has now teamed up with coach Ricky Lundell, who once trained Miesha Tate for her second clash with Rousey. Once sharing a rivalry with Lundell, Rousey has now overcome those to advance her career more professionally.

In 2012, Rousey defeated Tate via submission in Strikeforce, and she repeated this feat in the UFC in 2013. Before their second fight, Lundell’s excessive politeness inadvertently annoyed Rousey.

“We were mortal enemies, started off as mortal enemies. He was coaching against me on The Ultimate Fighter and he was so nice; I was like, ‘This motherf***** is so patronising and fake,’ and I hated his guts,” Rousey said in her latest video on YouTube.

“This is a common theme, by the way, that he’s so nice that everyone was like: ‘This motherf***** is not for real. He’s really just being a passive-aggressive asshole.’ But he’s actually the nicest motherf*****, actually the nicest person you will ever meet – so nice that you don’t think it’s real,” Rousey continued.

Ronda Rousey has a deep history with Ricky Lundell

Long before Lundell became Rousey’s coach, he was also known for coaching Rousey’s husband, Travis Browne, and it was there that Rousey and Lundell got to know each other more. “I was still like, ‘F*** that guy,’” Rousey said. “He tried to hurt me, he tried to help somebody hurt me, and you’re dead to me. But then he was [Travis’s] coach. Trav’s like, ‘No, you’ve got to give him a chance, he’s a really nice guy,’ but I was like ‘dead to me’.”

Speaking on how their relationship evolved, Rousey recalled how Lundell’s friendship helped her overcome depression. “I went from hating his guts to him changing my life for the better, and I’ll be eternally grateful. It’s been the greatest experience ever. He is my first ever black belt in judo. He started out as my student and now I’m his student.”

Rousey is scheduled to fight Gina Carano in May. 2026 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The fight will be under the banner of Jake Paul’s MVP and streamed live on Netflix.

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