Ronda Rousey vs Cat Zingano - UFC 184

Her game plan should have been to keep at range, stay off the fence, avoid the clinch and throw bombs whenever Ronda comes into range. It is literally the only way she had any kind of hope whatsoever.

 

Yeah and a seemingly lackluster knee (although somewhat hard to tell from behind). Based on her movement I would say you're right about it being nerves.

If she had executed a cautious strikers game-plan... I think this would have gone the same way it just would have been at 1:14 instead of 0:14

 

RIGGED

 

Like a canoe :woo:

 

Oh I am sorry....the haters express left a day ago. There is a space in the Bitter Lounge though

 

I agree with the general sentiment of this statement, but not in the context of this fight.

The knee, in my opinion was not the real issue. She came out hard, it's a tactic that can be successful, but she she missed she immediately locked up a headlock, and- the real critical error- continued to hold it after dropping to her knees with Rousey on top.

Leaving your arm out there like that in a kind of schoolyard headlock, is a super amateur mistake. Rousey didn't just fall into that armbar, cat literally held it there for a moment giving her time to lock it up. It's probably the first thing you learn not to do as a BJJ white belt. And Cat is neither an amateur nor a white belt.

I pretty much agree with Mitch in that nerves and maybe a bit of ring rust got to Zingano.

 

Yeah, I think what Cat did would probably have worked against anyone who wasn't Ronda. I mean she must have been quite happy 5 seconds in having thrown Rousey. Reversals like that are very uncommon in MMA and it was truly beautiful to see, really put the Ju in Judo.
I loved what Ronda said as well; "I know my reversals are better than anyone else's because my mom taught me."

 

I think the problem is Cat is at heart a grappler, grew up wrestling, is a BJJ champ, and although she has won a lot of fights by TKO s a lot of those wins were from the clinch or where she controlled the opponent with her grappling tired them out then knocked them out.

Womens MMA is really made for grapplers to dominate, , Carla Kristen Esparza for example has the best double leg I have seen in years.

Problem is Ronda is simply a better grappler than Cat or anyone else in current MMA, she is better in the clinch and better on the ground, women’s Judo simply has a deeper talent pool than any other womens combat sport by a country mile, so how do you beat someone better than you at your own game ? maybe take them out or disorientate them quickly at the start and then impose your game on them? To be fair Cat initially did ok in the scramble to start with, its just as I said Ronda is a better grappler, has scrambled with better opponents than Cat (or anyone else in womens MMA) has and shut her down

The way to beat her on paper is as Holyhead said, stay on the out side, use long straight punches and angles to keep her out of the clinch and try to knock her out, problem is she closes the gap really well and her clinch and takedowns are different to your average opponent or ttraining partner, making it hard to train against. And her striking is only getting better (Ronda in this regard reminds me of diago sanchez or Josh Koshcheck, take a truly world class athlete from one combat sport, and if they apply the same kind of talent and athletic gifts to learning another combat sport they will pick it up fairly easily)

 

Really? A standalone flying knee in the first 5 seconds doesn't sound like a good idea against anyone.

I suspect Rousey was quite happen to let her take the fight to the floor.

Uncommon in MMA, but beginner level stuff in Judo.

 

If you're an accomplished wrestler who tends to dominate the clinch and has a strong top game then it's usually fine. As a strike the knee was useless, but as an entry to the takedown it clearly worked. Most people would have been out-muscled when they hit the mat.

 

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHkOWSCKp8k"]Ronda Rousey reacts after dominating Cat Zingano - YouTube[/ame]

 

RR said that the flying knee was a possibility as she is notoriously a slow starter.
I was screaming for her to let go of that head hook. Sating that though she would've still given up her back and either turtled or full mounted. Screwed either way...