UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is unbeaten inside the cage (9-0, all finishes) and is a former Olympic bronze medalist in Judo, so it makes sense that she would be confident in her fighting abilities.
However, during this week’s appearance on Damon Martin’s The Great MMA Debate podcast, the “Rowdy” one made a bold proclamation that she could take any girl in a pure Jiu-Jitsu scenario (transcription per MMA Fighting):
It’s definitely an interesting new challenge [fighting BJJ black belt Alexis Davis at UFC 175]. One thing that I couldn’t stand when I was just watching MMA and coming from Judo was all these people talking about how the Jiu Jitsu people would beat any Judo player. It was such a stereotype that I thought, and still think, that I could beat any girl in the world, any weight division, gi or no-gi, black belt and in any ruleset they want, in just pure Jiu Jitsu.
Rousey has only faced one competitor who could truly be considered an elite grappler, and that was Sara McMann at UFC 170 in February.
McMann, an Olympic silver medalist in wrestling, did not ever see the fight hit the mat, though, as she lost by (somewhat controversial) TKO just 66 seconds into the championship bout.
Davis (16-5, seven submissions) brings a completely different game to the table than McMann, as she has a very competent guard and excels at taking the back and locking up the rear-naked choke.
Also a solid muay thai striker, Davis enters the July 5 title tilt on the strength of a five-fight win streak, most recently defeating Jessica “Evil” Eye at UFC 170 in February.
Additionally, one of her victims during that 23-month span was Rousey‘s friend/training partner Shayna Baszler, whom she choked unconscious with a rear-naked choke in January of last year in a bout contested under the Invicta banner.
Will Rousey pull out another emphatic win at UFC 175 or will Davis finally be able to offer the champ a real challenge that will push her to the brink?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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