And you don't think that getting the better of an Olympic medal winning wrestler in a clinch is impressive? I don't like Rousey, not even a little bit, but you're going more than a little over the top with the hate. She's not a good striker, but she keeps on showing, fight after fight, that she can finish world class opponents without being a good striker. If she was a good striker, she'd be pretty much invincible.
Honestly I think the UFC needs someone like Rousey. Look at some of the other champions... Chris Weidman. No doubt a good fighter but no discernable personality as far as I can see? Valasquez. Same deal. A stone cold killer but he's not exactly Mr "on-fire" is he? Barao and Aldo are brazilian, don't seem to do much media and probably suffer through translation when they do. Who's left? Lawler or Hendricks. Lawler should win because he throws with intent in every strike and is much more interesting. Hendricks just seems like a trucker stepped in the cage and got lucky (that's not a critique of his skill but the way he looks and his demeanour). I'd rather my champions were flawed and interesting, AND STILL WIN, than banal and functional. Damn...Rory McDonald as champion? Sheesh. Any of the Kevin/Matt/Mark/Josh/Steve Browns/Johnsons/McDonalds? GSP was interesting precisely because he wasn't like the rest but in a different way to Rousey. Polite, well turned out but coldly efficient. I'm looking forward to Conor Mcgregor and Rousey both being champions.
Honestly what is wrong with some people? You might not like the girl (I don't either) but she manhandled an Olympic wrestling silver medalist in the clinch and was throwing very nice knees with bad intensions, knees which folded her opponent and left her defenceless on all fours. And just to be clear whilst an Olympic medal in any old sport doesn't make you a bad and dangerous person, an Olympic medal in a combat sport does tend to suggest you are dangerous person, as does breaking the arms of professional combat athletes on a regular basis
i couldnt even hear her post fight speech with all the boo's Ronda will forever be a heel. for that i am happy, a small victory
It's true. Ric Flair made far more money as a heel than as a face - and that is one reason he is perhaps the GOAT of the industry I am reminded of something Ali once said before the Liston fight when someone said "half the crowd want to see Liston and half the crowd want to see you". Ali retorted "No, ALL the crowd want to see me - it's just half want to see me lose"
Especially when there was so much doubt about women's mma too. And when there wasn't hate there was the typical pervy crap. Someone like Tate (cute girl image, modelling, "cupcake") would of kept it there. Look at how pro wrestling views/treats female matches and that's where a lot of people thought/hoped wmma would go. The only serious fighter from the mainstream perspective was Cyborg and all she got were endless witty "she's a man" jokes. Then Rousey came along taking arms and doing the heel stuff. Suddenly people both took her seriously and paid her a lot of attention. I mean lets be honest. WMMA didn't surprise people because they're amazing fighters, it surprised them because the women came to fight and, shockingly, carried themselves as fighters not as something for the dudes to whack it over. Rousey leads the pack in that regard. She might be hated, but generally speaking she's respected.
I'm probably the biggest Ronda hater here. But I started out as a big fan. She has turned off a significant proportion of her (former) fanbase with her childish antics and absurd claims (such as being the best striker in MMA... still can't stop getting LOLs from that one). She was never this bad when she first started out. But I suppose anyone would start to believe the hype when Dana showers her with praise 24/7. The sheer volume of boos in her last two fights shows that the supporters are the minority, and for good reason.
Agree with most of this, except that I think it isn't all Rousey that helped the sport be taken seriously. I think Invicta gets a lot of credit as well. Even as a female, I didn't follow strikeforce or other WMMA. It was the night of the second Invicta event where I became a WMMA fan.
I don't want to be personal but that comment is [insert mild put down]. Prisons are not full of "Real hard cases". They are full of scum who break the law and prey on the weak. Many are cowards. There is nothing hard or tough about being in prison. Love her or hate her Ronda is a talented athlete and probably one of the toughest women on the planet. In MMA she has an advantage in that elite women's judo is far stronger in strength and depth than elite women's MMA. She is still technically excellent. Further, her comments about being the best striker are all about getting into the heads of her opponents. She'll know that she's not an amazing striker. That said she backed her statement up with a win from a well place liver shot. So haters must feel small.
Seeing how she'll never fight Cain Velasquez, how is saying she could beat him be about getting into his head? She's off her rocker if she genuinely believes she could. Ronda acts and talks like she's a badass. Like she doesn't give a damn. People who genuinely don't give a damn about the rules end up in prison, which is a very primal place that takes a raw, animilistic attitude to survive. It's hard, if not damn near impossible, to turn it off at will. So when Ronda (and any other fighter for that matter) try to act tough, I have to shake my head and roll my eyes. Even as far as grappling goes, there are better (lighter) fighters. Ronda is only dominant because there isn't much talent in the 135lb division. Transfer her into a lighter frame to, say, 115, and she get battered. I wouldn't even say top ten when you look at her as a complete package.
Insinuating that Ronda is not an elite grappler tells me that your a novice grappler on a bad trip. With regards rules, when has Ronda ever claimed to not care about the rules or broken the rules? Lol at prison being a "very primal place that takes a raw animalistic attitude to survive". Prison is prison. It is full of losers. Some are tough and some are weak as hell. It is pretty easy to survive in prison. Look at the low death rates. Lots of weedy alcoholic / junky bums end up in prison and survive. Bomber, watch the masked profanity please.
"Since the adoption of the women’s division in early 2013, a female UFC fighter is yet to score a single knockdown due to a standing strike." Looks like Rhonda is the only one who can score a knockdown with a standing strike? Oh she such a terrible striker.
You're right, it was a completely pointless thing to say. It only got everyone in the MMA world talking about her for a week and every MMA publication/blog/discussion board posting photo's of her wearing her sponsors kit. Completely worthless, probably only earned her 20-30K. A real hard case doesn't talk crap for less than 50. Roll your eyes and hand her your money. WMMA has lots of really nice respectful fighters, but they aren't being paid a tenth of what Rousey is pulling in. She sells tickets and she sells PPVs. I'm sorry, but Ronda is unparalleled in grappling in WMMA. She has made everyone she has faced look utterly ridiculous on the ground and in the clinch. She's so far ahead of everyone else, she's not only out of their league, she's barely playing the same sport. Who at 115 is a better grappler? 115 is an awesome division and I'm really excited to see it brought into the UFC, but there isn't anyone there half as dominant as Rousey has been and it's a stretch to say that 135 is a shallow division. You must really hate her to ignore reality to that extent.
She is a terrible striker. But she's a terrible striker with power. Roy Nelson is a terrible striker - doesn't mean I want to be within a mile of him when he starts swinging.
I didn't say she wasn't an elite grappler. The fact she won judo Olympic bronze makes her skill pretty obvious. What I DID say - and it helps if you actually read what I wrote - is that there are better grapplers (and strikers, and strikers/grapplers who can grapple/strike better than Ronda) in other divisions. You DO understand there are different security levels in prison, right? My point anyway was that I don't buy Ronda's "badass" attitude because I've met plenty of people who are genuinely nasty individuals and they don't turn it off like she does. Besides, she's a sportswoman. She doesn't need to act that way. My guess is she does it for publicity.
Yeah, because the UFC is the ONLY women's MMA promotion. Holly Holm has scored 5 knockouts in her career so far. The UFC's 135 lb division (as it stands) is relatively weak. That accounts for a lot of Ronda's success. When the 115 lb division gets going, I imagine a lot of Ronda's current audience will switch over to that instead.
