Ronda Rousey
With the 2012 Olympics well under way in London, England it’s only natural for former Olympians who have transitioned to mixed martial arts, to offer their thoughts on their respective sports.
Some of those former Olympians include Bellator champ Ben Askren, Strikeforce Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier, and the new face of women’s mma, Strikeforce champ, as well as 2008 Judo Bronze medalist, Ronda Rousey.
Ronda has swept the world of women’s mma becoming the face almost overnight and capturing her first world title this past march with her fifth consecutive victory. When the 25-year old was asked to comment on the Olympics and the sport of Judo, it is certainly expected that she would be a little biased towards her sport, explaining how in her eyes that Judo is the “coolest sport” and offers “the best grappling for” mixed martial artists.
Here is part of the article from UFC.com.
“I think judo is the best grappling for MMA,” explains Rousey. “What people don’t realize is there isn’t only one style of judo; there are many styles of judo. In judo, I was always a very ground-oriented person and into submissions. Judo in general is one of the only martial arts that promotes good posture, which is good for striking. You don’t have to change levels when you go from striking to changing levels to go to grappling. A wrestler gets really low when they go for a takedown or they hunch over, so they telegraph that they’re going to switch from striking to wrestling. Judo doesn’t have that problem. Also, there’s the emphasis on throws with such little time on the ground. In judo, if you want to be a ground-based fighter you have to be really fast and you have to be able to transition from your throw straight into your submissions almost in mid-air because the referee will only give you a second or two. Some people choose not to develop any ground game at all in judo because of that. Whereas I chose to make myself so fast on the ground that referees couldn’t stop me. That is how my experience with judo molded my style for MMA.”
“I think people should be excited to watch judo in the Olympics because it is one of the most amazing sports in the world,” states Rousey. “People should love the sport in itself. It is the highest athletic level of grappling. I’m obviously biased, but I think judo players are the most skilled grapplers in the world. I go to judo tournaments and I see throws that I’m shocked ever happened. How could that possibly happen? You’re capable of doing so much more when somebody has ‘handles’ on them. Wrestling is a great sport and I respect it and it’s cool, but imagine if they had handles on them?! Imagine how much more cool stuff they could do if they had handles on them! That’s what pretty much judo is. We’re going to put handles on someone so that the throws can be even more dynamic and we’re also going to have submissions. I still think judo is the coolest sport, hands down.”
Rousey is set to defend her title for the first time next month when she meets former champion Sarah Kaufman on August 18, 2012 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. Their match will headline the SHOWTIME televised card.