Ronda Rousey Takes Aim At Kayla Harrison

Ronda Rousey has brought her long-running dispute with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison back into the spotlight ahead of her return to MMA on May 16.

The two women share a history that goes back further than most. Harrison moved to Massachusetts as a teenager to train under Jimmy Pedro — the same judo coach in Rousey’s corner — and the pair lived under the same roof in the years leading up to the 2008 Olympics. They first crossed paths competitively at the 2005 U.S. Judo Championship. Rousey has since positioned herself as a formative influence on Harrison’s career path into MMA.

The relationship turned sour when Harrison took direct aim at Rousey’s credibility, calling a story Rousey has long told about her judo training days a “blatant f**king lie.” Rousey’s account — in which she describes being the dominant figure on the mat before men would eventually step in — was characterised by Harrison as fiction. Rousey’s response was to label her former training partner a “brat little sister.”

Comparison

Rousey’s return comes against Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, in the main event of Netflix’s first MMA card. Carano last competed in August 2009. The gap in competitive experience between that fight and the world Kayla Harrison operates in is substantial, and Harrison has made no effort to soften that observation. She has, however, left the door open. Harrison has publicly invited Rousey to meet her in the Octagon after the Netflix card.

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