If Floyd Mayweather doesn’t want to get hurt, he had better steer clear of Ronda Rousey, according to UFC President Dana White.
The month of April has been ripe with debate over a hypothetical superfight pitting the greatest boxer in the world against the UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan sided with Rousey during an appearance on ESPN Sports Nation. Even UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones hopped on the Olympic judo medalist’s bandwagon when asked to predict a winner on Fox Sports’ Crowd Goes Wild.
Boxing is only one of the many aspects of fighting allowed in MMA. Considering that the stances in boxing and MMA aren’t even the same, Mayweather would instantly be handicapped in various forms of striking and grappling.
It’s hard to forget the embarrassing UFC 118 co-main event bout between UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and boxing legend James “Lights Out” Toney. Clearly out of his element, Toney just plodded around awkwardly in the cage before getting taken down and pummeled by Couture.
With that said, people generally tend to look at things differently in a fight involving two men, as opposed to the greatest boxer in the world fighting a woman. There is an innate human presumption that the man will win in this particular situation.
However, cooler heads can prevail in understanding that each aspect of MMA is an art that warrants the same dedication Mayweather has given to boxing all these years. Rousey is without a doubt the more well-rounded fighter, which is exactly why White sees her dominating Mayweather in any kind of fight that allows all aspects:
You put Ronda Rousey in any fight situation — a street fight, a mixed martial arts fight. Not only does she beat Floyd, she’ll hurt Floyd really bad, White said on ESPN Sports Nation. But you take Ronda Rousey and you put her in a boxing match, obviously we know what’s going to happen there. But a real fight, Ronda Rousey will hurt Floyd. I don’t know if anyone has seen Floyd in real life, but he’s [a smaller guy]. If Ronda gets her hands on him, she’ll hurt him. I’ve seen her throw big men and hurt them.
UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis called the entire Rousey vs. Mayweather debate “ridiculous” on the Fox Sports panel.
Women’s boxing legend Ann Wolfe told ESNews Reporting that “Floyd would beat the s—t out of Rousey, MMA or whatever.”
To Pettis’ credit, it is a bit ridiculous to be breaking down a fight between Mayweather and Rousey. Not only are we talking about two completely different sports, but we are also talking about a man fighting a woman, which would immediately be denied by any governed state athletic commission.
It still beats breaking down Rousey’s past feuds with Arianny Celeste and Kim Kardashian. Who would you put your money on in an MMA fight: Rousey or Mayweather?
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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