UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey gets a chance to continue her unbeaten streak against arch nemesis Miesha Tate at UFC 168 next Saturday and she couldn’t care less that she is being portrayed as the bad guy after season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Speaking one-on-one with MMA HEAT’s Karyn Bryant, “Rowdy” explains that not only does she not mind being portrayed as the villain, per MMA Junkie, it’s what needed to happen for the best interests of women’s MMA.
“Well, if you saw the Batman (movie) where he had to make Aaron Eckhart look like the good guy, and then make himself look like the bad guy—because that’s what Gotham city needed—ya know, the women’s division is Gotham City and I am Batman. And, um, Miesha’s ‘Scarface,'” the champ said with a laugh.
Rousey is referencing the 2008 box office hit The Dark Knight, where Aaron Eckhart portrays District Attorney Harvey Dent (spoiler alert), who later becomes the villain Two-Face after getting half of his face lit on fire in an explosion.
(Major spoiler alert), at the conclusion of the film, Two-Face dies as Batman saves Commissioner James Gordon and his family from being killed off by the former “white knight” of Gotham City.
As part of his revenge tour, Two-Face killed several Gotham police officers, which Batman took the blame for so that the Dent’s legacy could remain an untarnished symbol of hope for the city.
Furthermore, if the character of Al Pacino’s Scarface, also known as Tony Montana, needs an explanation, shame on you.
For the record, Rousey states later in the interview that she “always loved playing the heel, the villain role.”
Quite a unique analogy from Rousey, but there is no question that the Tate-Rousey rivalry has provided a spark for women’s MMA for the better part of the past two years.
The 26-year-old titleholder has a chance to finally slam the door on that rivalry on December 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Now if Tate wins, obviously that’s a different story entirely.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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