Ronda Rousey is back in the spotlight, and she's not holding back. The former UFC women's bantamweight champion recently revealed that when she decided to make one final return to combat sports, she reached out to her old promotion with a blockbuster idea: a fight against fellow trailblazer Gina Carano. The UFC, however, passed on the opportunity.

But Rousey didn't stay sidelined for long. This Saturday, she'll step into the cage at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, for Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix's first-ever mixed martial arts event. Her opponent? A fighter known as "Conviction." And during Thursday's pre-fight press conference, Rousey made it clear she thinks the UFC is kicking itself for not taking her up on that Carano matchup.

"I think they're regretting not making it happen now," Rousey said. "There's no way they could have seen how this one fight would reverberate—creating this entire card, bringing MVP into MMA, and Netflix into MMA."

Rousey didn't stop there. She painted a vivid picture of her past negotiations with the UFC, recalling a moment that stuck with her. "When I first sat down in that office and I was lactating, he didn't think I was to be taken seriously," she said. "But I'm to be taken the most seriously while I'm lactating."

Now, she's found a home with Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian's MVP promotion, and she's singing a different tune. "It's incredible how they've made a priority to put the fighters first," Rousey explained. "They give us more of the profit share. I actually get to see some of those numbers now, and it's amazing how giving they've been. They want to showcase the fighters before anything else—they don't want the brand to overshadow us."

Rousey is careful to distinguish between the UFC she once knew and the one that exists today. Under previous owners and executives like Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, she built her legacy. "I owe Dana and the Fertittas immensely," she said. "I'd be caught dead before you ever heard me say a bad thing about any of them." But the company has changed hands, and her loyalty hasn't transferred. "My loyalty is to them, not the company they sold. I do not owe TKO's UFC a damn thing."

For fans of combat sports and MMA history, this weekend's event marks a new chapter for Rousey—one where she's fighting on her own terms, with a promotion that she says truly values its athletes. Whether the UFC is actually feeling regret remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Rousey is ready to make a statement.