Chael Sonnen Says Female Fighters Have To Be Grateful To Ronda Rousey, Even If They Don’t Get Along With Her

UFC light heavyweight Chael Sonnen has never been one to shy away from making his feelings known.

“The American Gangster” recently finished filming the controversial third season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Brazil opposite archrival Wanderlei Silva. Sonnen is set to face off with “The Axe Murderer” at UFC 175 on July 5 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That obviously gives “Uncle Chael” a lot to talk about, but he’s got another topic on his mind. The former middleweight title challenger appeared on an episode of the UFC World podcast (via FOX Sports) to discuss women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who will defend her belt against Alexis Davis at UFC 175:

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“She’s the whole thing for women’s MMA. I know there are some girls who don’t get along with her but, at the end of the day, when they put their heads down at night they’ve got to be grateful.

Saying that, there are some other girls that aren’t too far behind. I think that Miesha Tate has done a great job and Gina Carano has a place in it all. But Ronda is the one coming out and making things happen. She’s the one who said this is a fight and we can be ladylike after it’s over. She’s been refreshing, compelling and entertaining.”

Indeed Rousey has had some well-publicized spats with female fighters, such as her TUF 18 feud with Miesha Tate and the burgeoning one between her “Four Horsewomen” team and undefeated Brazilian fighter Bethe Correia.

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However, like Sonnen proclaimed, her impact upon the sport cannot be denied. At this point there’s not much question that without Rousey, there wouldn’t even be a women’s division in the UFC. Dana White was completely against it until “Rowdy” came along; now it may be his biggest cash cow.

The same could be said for Carano, who was WMMA’s first public face to cross over into mainstream media. “Conviction” has been rumored to return to the UFC after being away from the sport for almost five years to pursue her acting career.

And of course Rousey has some huge movie roles of her own in the upcoming “Entourage,” “Expendables 3,” “Fast and the Furious 7,” and “Athena Project.”

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Love or hate her, Rousey is quickly becoming MMA’s biggest crossover star, and that’s quite the feat considering she only obtained the belt by defeating Tate just over two years ago.

Ever the company man, Sonnen has high praise for the fighters who are driving women’s MMA to the forefront of the sport. Is its success partly due to the absence of top-level draws like Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, or has it truly gotten this big so quickly?