Ronda Rousey given power to block UFC champ from attending comeback event after 'derogatory' comments

Mixed martial arts icon Ronda Rousey has given permission for controversial fight villain Sean Strickland to attend her comeback this weekend despite "derogatory" comments he made about it earlier in the year.

The outspoken UFC middleweight champion said in February he believes women are "too empowered" and that he had "no interest" in seeing Rousey come out of retirement to fight Gina Carano.

The bout will headline Sunday's Most Valuable Promotions card on Netflix.

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MVP boss Nakisa Bidarian on Friday revealed Strickland has now contacted him asking for free tickets to the event.

"I got a request from Sean Strickland, but I need to talk to Ronda because he was very derogatory about Ronda and Gina," Bidarian said.

"He was disrespectful and saying inappropriate things.

"While we would love to have him as a UFC champion, you can't disrespect the headliners and call for free tickets."

At the pre-fight press conference, Rousey just laughed when asked if she would allow Strickland into the building.

"Sure, he can come," she said.

"I'm glad it has to go through me now. Come on over. We can convert anyone."

Nearly a decade after she left the sport at the peak of her fame and the nadir of her personal happiness with MMA, Rousey now has a cadre of top-notch coaches and support staff, a world-class training setup and full mental support for her return.

That's noteworthy because Rousey became arguably the most famous athlete in women's combat sports history despite having a fraction of the coaching help and outside-the-cage structure given to many top fighters.

Rousey previously trained out of a storefront fight club in Glendale, California, with Edmond Tarverdyan, the coach to whom she remained intractably loyal while the entire sport questioned his knowledge and suitability — to the point where Rousey's own mother, AnnMaria De Mars, publicly called him an idiot.

When asked how she looks back on her years with Tarverdyan, Rousey said: "We accomplished a lot, but I think we went as far as we could together."

Many years later, Rousey has experienced what's possible outside those self-imposed boundaries, and she hopes to show it against Carano.

When Rousey began to explore the possibility of an MMA return last year, her husband — former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne — encouraged her to team up with his longtime trainer, Ricky Lundell. Rousey actually hadn't liked Lundell in their initial encounters, but the enthusiastic coach quickly won her over.

And when they got to work, Rousey finally recognised everything she didn't have in her first time around.

She is getting innovative coaching from a team led by Lundell, the accomplished grappler and jiujitsu athlete who has coached Jon Jones and Frank Mir. The upgrades in Rousey's physical training facilities are massive as well, with access to a modern array of machines, sparring partners and recovery equipment. Lundell even ripped out his own garage to install a sauna alongside his five-person cold tub and hyperbaric chamber.

Lundell and his team provide her with data she had never seen before, including a written debrief of every training session. They hold regular video calls to analyse her progress. She knows more about her strengths and weaknesses than ever before.

"He always keeps me in a great mind space," Rousey said.

"He keeps it very positive while still challenging me and giving me what I need. I've never seen a cat that's so organised. ... A lot of training camps are very disjointed, and there's a lot of egos pushing against each other. Ricky is really great at just team building and keeping everybody on the same page and coordinated."

When Rousey lost her final two UFC fights and realised she needed to prioritise her health, including her increasing susceptibility to concussions, she left the spotlight of the cage for acting and professional wrestling, followed by marriage and two children.

"I had to allow my body to rest and heal," Rousey said.

- with AP