Joe Rogan hits back at Ronda Rousey after her savage verdict on his UFC expertise

Joe Rogan has said that he isn't bothered by Ronda Rousey criticizing his UFC expertise in a recent interview.

While Rogan has been with the UFC since its early years in the 1990s, he has never formally fought in the octagon, and Rousey recently told Bert Kreischer that the renowned podcaster was 'not an expert' but 'a fan with an audience.'

Nonetheless, Rogan later said on the 'Joe Rogan Experience' that Rousey was 'entitled to her opinion' - and even called her the 'first legitimate female superstar.'

'The Ronda Rousey one didn't really bother me,' Rogan said, as reported by Awful Announcing.

'When she said I wasn't an expert, everyone's entitled to their opinion. But you've gotta understand why she thinks like that, because she has a champion mentality. 'You never fought, you ain't s***' It's real simple … I get it. It's totally fine.'

Rousey, 38, left UFC in 2016 with sour feelings towards the color commentator, who she suggested had shown her a lack of respect at the tail end of her career. 

And she has made previous digs at Rogan, as she accused him of turning on her.

'It was really disappointing to see how happily everybody turned on me and how people like Joe Rogan, who were crying in the ring about the honor of being able to call my fights, people I considered friends in the media, so quickly turned on me,' Rousey said last year to Chris Cuomo.

Thus, Rogan understands why there is seemingly bad blood between the pair. 

'When you watch a fight and you're watching you get your a** kicked and the [commentator] is talking about how great the other person is doing and how bad you're doing, that doesn't sit well with a lot of people,' Rogan said. 'Especially someone who's got that type of champion mentality, that type of f*cking pitbull mentality.'

He added: 'She's a legend. I've got nothing but love and respect for that lady. What she did was so impressive.'

Rousey cemented herself in UFC lore as the promotion's first female champion - a title she successfully defended six times before retiring in 2016.

She became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo by winning bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

She began her MMA career in 2011 with King of the Cage before shortly joining Strikeforce.

Nicknamed 'Rowdy', she won the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight title in her fifth fight and fifth straight win as a professional MMA fighter. She kept the title up until the UFC brought out the promotion.

Upon acquiring the entire Strikeforce roster, Dana White crowned Rousey the UFC women's bantamweight queen — a title she successfully defended six times as her stardom took off to unprecedented heights.

She went 12-0 in MMA before losing to Holly Holm via second-round KO with a head kick in 2015.

Over one year later, she was gifted a title fight in her UFC return before losing to Amanda Nunes in 48 seconds without landing a significant strike.