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Ronda Rousey Comments on Future in UFC

UFC fighter Ronda Rousey announced she would take time to contemplate her future in the sport after Amanda Nunes knocked her out in 48 seconds at Friday’s UFC 207.
Rousey spoke about her pending decision in a statement to ESPN on Saturday, per Ram…

UFC fighter Ronda Rousey announced she would take time to contemplate her future in the sport after Amanda Nunes knocked her out in 48 seconds at Friday’s UFC 207.

Rousey spoke about her pending decision in a statement to ESPN on Saturday, per Ramona Shelburne:

I want to say thank you to all of my fans who have been there for me in not only the greatest moments but in the most difficult ones. Words cannot convey how much your love and support means to me.

Returning to not just fighting, but winning, was my entire focus this past year. However, sometimes — even when you prepare and give everything you have and want something so badly — it doesn’t work how you planned. I take pride in seeing how far the women’s division has come in the UFC and commend all the other women who have been part of making this possible, including Amanda.

I need to take some time to reflect and think about the future. Thank you for believing in me and understanding.

The loss to Nunes was Rousey‘s second straight defeat. Holly Holm knocked her out at UFC 193 in November 2015.

Rousey, 29, was once arguably the biggest star in the UFC and was a pioneer in the women’s division. She won her first 12 professional fights and her first six in the UFC, ending each either by knockout or submission. Her signature armbar finished Cat Zingano in 14 seconds, Miesha Tate on two separate occasions and Liz Carmouche in Rousey‘s first UFC fight, among others.

But her dominance has disappeared in her last two bouts, a fact Nunes blamed on a new strategic approach from Rousey and her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan.

“He thinks she’s a boxer,” she said after the fight, per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. “He’s put that in her head. I don’t know why he did that.”

She added: “She had great judo. She could do more in this division, but [Tarverdyan‘s] done this crazy [strategy] with boxing, and it’s had her go down.”

And while Rousey will take time to think, Nunes doesn’t expect to see her fighting in the UFC again.

“That’s it for her. For sure, she’s going to retire,” she predicted, per Pugmire. “She can’t take any more. If she wanted a rematch, it’d be the same thing.”

UFC President Dana White, meanwhile, expressed gratitude for Rousey, regardless of what she decides.

“[It] wasn’t her night, and none of this would be here without Ronda Rousey,” he said, per Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “Rousey built this. She talked me into letting women come into the UFC, and it was the smartest thing I’ve ever done. Regardless of whether she comes back, she doesn’t come back—she’s a winner. She built this whole thing.”

Certainly, Rousey changed women’s MMA forever and was the division’s first true superstar. If she returns to fighting, she’ll remain one of the sport’s most compelling figures, if only to see if she can regain her prior dominance.

If she retires, she’ll leave the sport in a far better place than she found it.

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LeBron James Comments on Ronda Rousey After UFC 207 Loss vs. Amanda Nunes

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James had words of support for MMA fighter Ronda Rousey after she lost her second straight fight on Saturday night, this time a 48-second knockout against Amanda Nunes.
James sympathized with Rousey, per Jason Lloyd…

James sympathized with Rousey, per Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal:

In sports, in general, they build you up as high as they can, put you on the highest mountain in the world, just to tear you down. That’s coming from somebody who has experienced it. And that’s exactly what she’s going through right now. That’s a fact. I know exactly how she feels because I was that athlete. I went through that.

James, 32, compared Rousey’s fall from grace to his own when he famously left Cleveland for the Miami Heat in a televised event and was vilified by many NBA fans around the country. Rousey, meanwhile, was arguably the most dominant fighter in the UFC—and certainly one of its most visible personalities—over her first 12 fights.

But both Holly Holm and Nunes knocked her out in under a minute, leading to questions as to whether Rousey will ever fight again.

“I don’t know,” UFC president Dana White said on SportsCenter when asked if Rousey will fight again, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN. “Ronda obviously needs to go home and take some time. She’s very rich. She doesn’t need to fight anymore. She’s super competitive. Maybe she wants to, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

Her agent, Brad Slater, added: “It’s too soon to say anything about the future. I don’t want to speak for her. She’s going to take some time to process this.”

James didn’t want to speculate on Rousey’s future.

“You don’t know her mindset,” he said. “You don’t know the drive, is the drive still there? You don’t know. But you can tell that it’s built and built and built and built and built, they always make the teardown story more important than how long it took for her to actually get to the mountaintop.”

One thing James didn’t add is that the sports world also loves a comeback story, and Rousey would certainly be primed to tell a great one if she decides to continue fighting. If she can rediscover the dominance that once saw her end fights against Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Bethe Correia in a combined one minute and four seconds between July 2014 and August 2015, her story would take another compelling turn.

James, after all, won two titles with the Heat and led the Cavaliers to their first NBA title in 2016 since The Decision. If Rousey wants to continue fighting and is looking for motivation, James’ story perhaps can provide it.

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Conor McGregor Taking 10 Months off from UFC, According to Dana White

UFC President Dana White revealed on the UFC Unfiltered podcast with Jim Norton and Matt Serra that superstar Conor McGregor would be taking 10 months off.
The topic came up while White was discussing the UFC’s decision to vacate McGregor’s&n…

UFC President Dana White revealed on the UFC Unfiltered podcast with Jim Norton and Matt Serra that superstar Conor McGregor would be taking 10 months off.

The topic came up while White was discussing the UFC’s decision to vacate McGregor‘s featherweight title that he won in December 2015 by knocking out Jose Aldo.

“That [featherweight] belt hadn’t been defended in almost a year, and Conor’s taking another 10 months off for maternity,” White said (at the 17:19 mark on the podcast). “It’s not fair to the rest of the guys in that division. You can’t tie up the entire division, but I did let him fight for [two titles]. I let him do it.”

McGregor also won the lightweight title by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November.

And he was always expected to take time off, as White told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times back in November that McGregor wouldn’t fight before May.

“His girl [Dee Devlin] gets super stressed out when he fights,” White told Pugmire in November. “He doesn’t want her having any of that stress while she’s pregnant. He’s good. He should take time off. He’s been fighting nonstop. Nothing wrong with him taking time off. It’s good for him and her, and it’s good for the baby.”

Now, however, it appears McGregor will be off until September 2017.

UFC’s brashest personality and arguably most talented fighter has been a popular topic of conversation for White of late. When asked about the possibility of McGregor taking on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing bout sometime in the future, White bluntly told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports: “It ain’t happening.”

Since McGregor is under contract with the UFC, he would need the organization’s permission to take on Mayweather. White’s comments indicate in no uncertain terms that he wouldn’t sign off on that fight.

Of course, McGregor has also indicated that he wants equity in the UFC and won’t fight again unless he receives it, according to Iole. He’ll have plenty of time to determine if he wants to stick to those guns and end his UFC career over the next 10 months.

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UFC 208 Reportedly Moved to Brooklyn: Latest Details, Venue, Schedule and More

UFC 208, scheduled to take place in Anaheim, California, in January 2017, has reportedly been “scrapped,” according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN. Instead, UFC 208 will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Feb. 11, per Damon Mart…

More to follow.

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Conor McGregor Is Avoiding Khabib Nurmagomedov Fight, Says Coach Javier Mendez

After Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, he dismissed Khabib Nurmagomedov as his next opponent, claiming he wasn’t interested in taking that bout because Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought frequently enough to earn a shot at th…

Nurmagomedov’s coach, Javier Mendez, interpreted McGregor’s words a bit differently.

“Yes, 100 percent, he is ducking Khabib,” Mendez told Okamoto. “I know that from the words he is saying. ‘He doesn’t fight enough for my taste’? Give me a break. You can say, ‘Hey, I want to fight Nate Diaz a third time.’ Fine. Say that. But don’t try to put my guy down because you are trying to avoid him. Don’t belittle my guy. That’s bulls–t.”

Mendez feels his fighter measures up well against McGregor:

When [McGregor] fought Chad Mendes, I thought it proved he wasn’t ducking anybody. But now he’s doing this and I’m thinking he’s trying to avoid Khabib. I think Khabib, [lightweight contenders] Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson all give Conor a hell of a fight—but the guy who gives him the worst time, by far, is Khabib. He’s the strongest grappler in the division.

Mendez may be biased, but Nurmagomedov is a perfect 24-0 in his professional career and is fresh off a submission victory over Michael Johnson at UFC 205. Nurmagomedov is so confident that he was heard talking to UFC President Dana White during the bout.

“Hey, be careful. I’m gonna smash your boy,” Nurmagomedov said to White between rounds of his fight with Johnson, referencing McGregor.

“Just get through this first,” White responded.

You can see the exchange below:

So serious is Nurmagomedov about getting his title shot that he’s threatened to quit the UFC altogether if it doesn’t happen, per the Luke Thomas Show (via MMA Fighting).

Nonetheless, McGregor appears to be positioning himself for the biggest possible payday and highest-profile fight the next time he enters the Octagon. McGregor has even said he wants $100 million to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match, per Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting.

A champion in two divisions, McGregor has earned the right to seek the most lucrative fights available. Nurmagomedov, quite simply, may not yet appease McGregor’s desire for a bout of that stature.

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Miesha Tate Retires from UFC: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

MMA fighter Miesha Tate announced her retirement from the UFC on Saturday evening.
“It’s not my time anymore,” she announced, per SportsCenter, after losing a unanimous decision to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in New York. “It’s the future’s …

MMA fighter Miesha Tate announced her retirement from the UFC on Saturday evening.

“It’s not my time anymore,” she announced, per SportsCenter, after losing a unanimous decision to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in New York. “It’s the future’s time.”

She added she hadn’t made the decision before the fight and instead was inspired to hang up her gloves after losing.

“I had a lot more to give, but I couldn’t pull it out of myself,” she said in her post-fight interview. “You know, it’s been a long time taking a lot of punishment. I still love this sport. I love you guys so much. Thank you, but this is it for me.”

You can see her full comments below:

Tate, 30, finished her career with an 18-7 professional record. The former UFC bantamweight titleholder, who also won the Strikeforce bantamweight title, is one of the most decorated female fighters in the sport’s history.

She’s defeated some of the biggest names in MMA, including Holly Holm, though she lost both of her matchups against Ronda Rousey by armbar submission. Not surprisingly, many in the MMA community acknowledged her legacy, including Cris Cyborg:

Tate, without question, will be remembered as a pioneer in MMA. She was a champion at a time when the women’s division was still growing in popularity and finding its feet, and she leaves having helped secure its place in professional sports.

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