To MMA enthusiasts, there’s no doubt Floyd Mayweather would get dumped on his head by any of the male UFC champions. But what would happen if the greatest boxer in the world stepped into the cage with Ronda Rousey?
The UFC women’s bantamweight champ is the alpha female in a sport that encompasses much more than a punching contest. Kicks, knees, takedowns and submissions—these are all aspects of fighting in MMA in which Mayweather hasn’t trained.
This would explain why Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, nonchalantly told Power 106 FM that she could beat Mayweather in an MMA fight:
I wouldn’t even stand up, I wouldn’t even be anywhere near him. I would just do like a little army crawl over there, and he would have to run away. I would just be skittering after him like the one dude in Bloodsport that was doing the whole monkey crawl fight system. I would do that. I would just bear crawl over there too low for him to hit me, and I’d tackle him down…. I spent a lot of time [on the ground], and I doubt that he does.
Rousey has managed to toss around grown men much larger than Mayweather in the past. Who could ever forget the beautiful throw she hit on middleweight Uriah Hall during a training session on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter?
The “monkey crawl” would be one way for Rousey to avoid Mayweather’s speed and power. She would have to adopt a stealthier approach than just walking down her opponent and forcing the clinch against the cage.
Theoretically, if Rousey could find a way past Mayweather’s boxing, the odds would tip in her favor.
Of course, a serious debate will probably spurn from Rousey’s lighthearted notion that she could actually defeat Mayweather in a fight, which is unfortunate. Her comments from the interview didn’t come across as a serious challenge to the undefeated boxing legend.
If anything, it was just a playfully honest answer to an amusing question.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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