Ronda Rousey still believes she would hand Floyd Mayweather Jr. his first loss if he ever stepped into the UFC Octagon, but she is also willing to concede that a man fighting a woman in professional fighting is a “terrible idea.”
These days, the UFC women’s bantamweight champ can’t go anywhere without being asked about Mayweather. Her comments during an appearance on Power 106 FM in February have spurned a circus of interest in a hypothetical fight that will never take place.
On the show, Rousey stated that she believed she could defeat Mayweather in an MMA bout. What followed was months of media questions and pundits giving their two cents on the matchup between the Olympic Judoka and undefeated boxing legend.
During the UFC 175 press conference on Friday, it was like beating a dead horse for Rousey, who once again explained why she would hold the upper hand in an MMA-rules fight against Mayweather (via MMA Fighting):
You would never report me saying something like ‘I think that Floyd Mayweather is the best boxer that ever lived, an actual, technical boxer.’ Of course Floyd would box the hell out of me if it was a boxing match. But boxing is a limited form of fighting, and we’re a much less limited form of fighting and I’ve trained my whole life to prepare for things he hasn’t prepared for. I prepare to get hit and to be taken down.
UFC president Dana White is obviously a big believer in Rousey. He recently told EsNewsReporting.com that Floyd would win in a boxing match, but in a street fight or MMA bout, Rousey would “hurt Floyd bad.”
Everyone has an opinion, but according to White, a hypothetical discussion is as far as this fight will ever get.
“We don’t condone men vs. women fighting,” White said at the press conference.
Rousey has her own opinions on how the fight would turn out, but she quickly agreed with White’s comments about men fighting women.
“In professional fighting, I think it’s a terrible idea,” she said.
While the sports world chats up fictional fights, Rousey will be focused defending her UFC title for a fourth consecutive time when she faces Alexis Davis July 5. The bout will serve as the co-headliner for the UFC 175 fight card featuring the middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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