Ronda Rousey Calls Dana White, UFC 'Catty' for Revealing Conor McGregor Return During Ngannou Spot

Ronda Rousey certainly noticed the timing of the Conor McGregor announcement.

Rousey's victory over Gina Carano was the headline of Most Valuable Promotions' MMA event on Saturday, but UFC president Dana White and his organization also made waves by announcing the long-awaited return of McGregor to the Octagon as Francis Ngannou was walking out during the MVP card.

"It's kind of catty," Rousey told reporters of the timing (2:30 mark). "It also shows they see MVP MMA as a threat that they would do that at that moment and do that at that time. I feel like it's also a compliment because it elevates MVP MMA, and they're declaring they see us as a real rival."

While Rousey noticed the timing of the announcement, the UFC was also surely paying attention to the MVP card.

After all, it marked the return of a number of the sport's most notable names with Rousey, Carano, Nate Diaz, Mike Perry and Ngannou. Perry defeated Diaz via a second-round TKO following a doctor's stoppage, while Ngannou defeated Philipe Lins in a first-round knockout win.

But Rousey was the headliner.

She wasted no time setting the tone and defeated Carano in 17 seconds via armbar submission. While Rousey winning was anything but a surprise, the quickness and dominance of the victory was shocking and brought to mind some of her first-round triumphs from when she was the UFC's inaugural women's bantamweight champion.

Rousey suggested the UFC saw MVP as a rival, and that may have been the case when the company countered with its own star power via the McGregor announcement.

Jake Paul, who is a leader of MVP, was less diplomatic about the entire development.

"Drop it during our event. Does it matter?" Paul told reporters (10:27 mark). "That just shows how pressed they are. Little insecure boys trying to piggyback off of our event and try to put some news over top of us. It's not gonna work buddy."

Alas, McGregor's return will generate plenty of headlines even if the timing of the announcement was, in Rousey's eyes, "catty."