There was a lot of hype leading up to the fight between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title.
It definitely delivered when it came down to action, but I have to wonder how much of a role the pre-fight hype played in the outcome.
There was a lot of trash talk leading up to the fight, and a lot of it was instigated by the now current champion, Rousey.
Previous to the fight, Rousey stated that all the talk was nothing personal.
However, after the bout, she pointed to a confrontation at the weigh-ins as a moment when things changed.
“I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, since I kind of started [the bad blood between us], but after weigh-ins, when she got in my face and I pushed her back and she said I should be fined for head butting her … if you’re going to try to act hard, just follow up with it. Don’t pull back and say I should get a fine. I thought that was kind of messed up.”
Now, how did all of this play into the fight?
Tate, the former champ, came out wild and aggressive.
From the opening bell, she swarmed Rousey with a barrage of punches. When Rousey secured the first armbar, it looked to be pretty deep, and you could hear the commentators grimacing in horror.
Tate eventually got out, but Rousey later got her in another one, and this time it was the fight-ending submission.
Rousey bent Tate’s arm elbow the complete opposite way it is supposed to go naturally, and it looked to be completely broken.
Personally, I wish that Tate would’ve tapped sooner because the submission looked nasty.
She knows her body better than most anyone else, and could gauge how much danger she was actually in.
By all accounts so far, it appears that there were no broken bones, but the full extent of the damage remains to be seen.
Part of you has got to believe that the reason Tate fought so hard is because she didn’t want to lose her title to Rousey after all the talking that had been done.
It seems that we’re at a point here where pre-fight antics have not only affected the outcome of the fight, but could also potentially affect the fighters in their personal lives as well.
As mentioned before, Rousey stated that all the talk was strictly business.
Let’s face it: It worked.
People were interested in this fight, and it has garnered tons of attention in the MMA world. I probably wouldn’t even be writing this article if it weren’t for all the trash-talk.
Fighting is a dangerous sport no matter how much you try to clean it up by banning the likes of headbutts, strikes to groin and eye-poking.
It seems, however, that one area that they can’t protect the fighters is in submissions.
Really, it’s up to the fighters if they want to tap: I wouldn’t want to see referee stoppages due to submission.
You’ve got to wonder if all the talk was worth it.
For Rousey, of course it is. She’s now the face of women’s MMA, and has revived interest in an area of the sport that seemed to be long forgotten.
At the end of the day, these aren’t just fights for the sake of fighting.
They’re spectator sports—sports entertainment.
Rousey has definitely provided both.
But at what cost?
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