Author: Shawn Brubaker

UFC 157: Where Ronda Rousey’s Victory Ranks Among Top Women’s Sports Milestones

Ronda Rousey’s dominance in UFC has taken fans of the sport by storm. A usually male-dominated sport has seen a powerful woman grab hold of the public consciousness in a way that no man has, and her win has cemented her as a legendary figure in the spo…

Ronda Rousey‘s dominance in UFC has taken fans of the sport by storm. A usually male-dominated sport has seen a powerful woman grab hold of the public consciousness in a way that no man has, and her win has cemented her as a legendary figure in the sport. For that, Rousey‘s win over Liz Carmouche is one of the greatest achievements in women’s sports history.

To be clear, Rousey‘s win is in lofty company.

Billie Jean King always comes to mind when discussing women’s sporting accomplishments, mainly because of her 1973 Battle of the Sexes victory over Bobby Riggs. She struck a big blow for women’s sports, proving that women athletes were just as worthy of recognition as men.

Rousey‘s victory, though, didn’t need the affirmation that women can beat men. Instead, it was famous on its own merits. Two of the world’s best fighters caught the public’s attention, and their gender was only tangentially relevant. In a way, that puts this fight above King’s victory.

In terms of toughness, Rousey‘s win is reminiscent of Kerri Strug’s brilliant vault in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games. Strug’s performance is memorable because she not only won the United States the team title over the Russians for the first time, but she did it on a broken ankle.

Rousey didn’t exactly measure up to Strug’s injury-stricken performance, but keep in mind that UFC is a violent sport that sees its competitors get brutalized constantly. Strug’s performance is legendary, but Rousey is tough in her own right.

One final comparable accomplishment is the 1999 U.S. women’s soccer victory at the World Cup. Like Rousey‘s fight, that victory captured the public imagination the way few women’s sporting accomplishments have. The Rose Bowl was packed to see the final match, and the team remains legendary to this day.

Every so often, a woman captures the public’s attention with a brilliant athletic performance. Rousey is the latest in a long line of brilliant achievements. Though her win wasn’t as important as Strug’s or the 1999 U.S. team, it will justifiably be mentioned in the same breath.

Rousey deserves that credit for her dominating performances in one of the most brutal sports in the world.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 155: Cain Velasquez Gets Shot at Redemption After Last Year’s Torn ACL

Sixty-four seconds.That’s how long the first match between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos lasted. That’s how long Velasquez was able to last.Immediately, the critiques poured in. Velasquez was too reckless, too offensive and too easily hit. He he…

Sixty-four seconds.

That’s how long the first match between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos lasted. That’s how long Velasquez was able to last.

Immediately, the critiques poured in. Velasquez was too reckless, too offensive and too easily hit. He heard the criticism, and Velasquez didn’t disagree. He told Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie.com soon after the fight, “There’s a certain way to be aggressive out there. You can’t just run at somebody.”

Velasquez has the strategy aspect of the fight down this time. He’s going to fight smarter, and he’s going to last longer.

More importantly, though, Velasquez has his health. 

In the last fight, Velasquez was fighting on a torn ACL. He and his handlers tried to downplay the injury’s impact, but Velasquez was clearly affected. After all, who wouldn’t be? A torn ACL is one of the most serious injuries one can face, and few athletes could even compete with one.

As valiant as Velasquez was in trying to fight, he never really had a chance with such a brutal injury. Examine the tape, what little there is of it, and you’ll see a fighter who couldn’t plant his foot, kick properly or move from side to side. Even the best fighter would lose when handicapped like that.

Now, Velasquez is healthy, able and ready for redemption. 

The popular consensus is that Velasquez will need to keep this fight on the ground to beat Dos Santos, something he was unable to do on his bum knee in the last fight. There are no guarantees, of course, but Velasquez should do a better job in this regard at least.

Worth mentioning is that Dos Santos was not 100 percent in the last fight either. This time, though, both fighters are healthy and ready for a long, grueling fight. That promises an exciting, knock-down, drag-it-out fight. At the very least, it can’t be worse than the last one.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com