The war of words between UFC star Ronda Rousey and boxer Floyd Mayweather continued on Monday, with Rousey claiming she makes more per second than the lucrative fighter in an interview with TMZ.
“[Floyd] said ‘You make $300 million a night, then you ca…
The war of words between UFC star Ronda Rousey and boxer Floyd Mayweather continued on Monday, with Rousey claiming she makes more per second than the lucrative fighter in an interview with TMZ.
“[Floyd] said ‘You make $300 million a night, then you can give me a call’ … and I actually did the math and given the numbers of my last fight, I’m actually the highest paid UFC fighter and I’m a woman,” Rousey said.
She added, “I think I actually make 2-3 times more than he does per second … so when he learns to read and write, he can text me.”
The two have been feuding since Rousey won the ESPY for Best Fighter over Mayweather, prompting her to say, “I wonder how Floyd feels being beaten by a woman for once,” per Gareth A. Davies of the Telegraph.
That led to Mayweather’s retort about the amount of money he can make in one night and eventually to Rousey’s most recent rebuttal.
The two fighters are undoubtedly at the top of their respective games. Mayweather is undefeated in his professional career and coming off his hugely anticipated (though ultimately disappointing) victory over Manny Pacquiao, with Andre Berto on deck and the opportunity to tie Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record.
Rousey is 12-0 in her professional career and has absolutely dominated the UFC, most recently beating Bethe Correia by knockout in 34 seconds. Her last three fights have lasted a combined one minute and four seconds.
Bethe Correia took to social media on Monday to let Ronda Rousey and the world know that she wants a rematch with the champion.
In a long post on her Instagram account, Correia wrote, “So I tell @rondarousey I’m here and I’ll figh…
Bethe Correia took to social media on Monday to let Ronda Rousey and the world know that she wants a rematch with the champion.
In a long post on her Instagram account, Correia wrote, “So I tell @rondarousey I’m here and I’ll fight for a rematch in 2016, stronger, more mature, we’ll see each other again! I wanted to fight you and I got it. I’ll get that chance again and I’ll have my revenge at the right time!”
Correia also chastised Rousey for reportedly saying she wanted Correia to “have a meeting with Jesus,” interpreting that to mean Rousey wanted to kill her. Correia noted she would never fight someone “with the intention to kill, break their neck which is something there’s no return from” and that she would never even joke about it.
She was responding to an article in which “Rousey’s longtime mentor Gene LeBell said Rousey was disappointed in the fight’s result because she didn’t break one of Correia’s bones,” per Brazilian outlet Combate (via D’Arcy Maine of espnW).
The irony in Correia’s remarks is that before the two fighters faced off, Correia said, per Combate (h/t MMA Mania, via Fox Sports), “I hope she does not kill herself later on,” when predicting she would beat Rousey. Those comments were not received well publicly, as Rousey’s father had killed himself earlier in the fighter’s life, and Correia would later apologize.
Now, however, she is simply trying to earn a rematch with Rousey, which might be a tough task after the champion knocked her out in 34 secondsin early August.
By Ronda Rousey’s standards, Saturday night’s fight against Bethe Correia was a marathon. Of course, when your previous two fights lasted a combined 30 seconds, well, a fight that makes it to the 34-second mark must feel like an eternity.&nbs…
By Ronda Rousey‘s standards, Saturday night’s fight against Bethe Correia was a marathon. Of course, when your previous two fights lasted a combined 30 seconds, well, a fight that makes it to the 34-second mark must feel like an eternity.
Rousey was again dominant, knocking Correia out with a right hand in a fight that had a lot of tension in the lead-up after Correia said she hoped Rousey didn’t “commit suicide” while predicting she would beat her in May. Rousey‘s father committed suicide when she was eight and, while Correia apologized for the remarks, it was clear there was a different level of animosity between the fighters than usual.
Indeed, even after dominating Correia, there was no love lost between the two.
“I said the exact same thing she was saying to me at the weigh-ins when she was screaming in my face at weigh-ins,” Rousey said at the post-fight press conference, per Fox Sports. “She was saying ‘Don’t cry.’ So I turned around to her after I knocked her out and I said ‘Don’t cry.'”
Rousey also admitted she wanted to knock out Correia in a post-fight interview.
It’s very possible it was Correia‘s strategy all along to get Rousey riled up to the point that the champion didn’t fight technically sound and came into the Octagon angry and unfocused. Indeed, Rousey came out swinging and didn’t look particularly strategic.
But it didn’t matter in the end, as Rousey reminded folks that she can brawl with anyone. Angry or focused; armbar or right hand; Rousey has plenty of tools in her arsenal to finish an opponent quickly.
It was another example of just how transcendentally dominant Rousey has become, per Alessandro Miglio of Bleacher Report:
Lionel Messi might have something to say about that, but the point stands: Rousey is, at the very least, as dominant in her sport as any other athlete is in their particular sport. And she’s at the point where she’s also garnering comparisons to some of history’s other dominant fighters, per ESPN Stats & Information:
It’s hard to imagine anyone beating Rousey this point, outside of perhaps Cris “Cyborg” Justino, though that fight won’t happen until Cyborg gets down to 135 pounds. When—or if—she does, however, it will be one heck of a fight to see.
For now, poor Miesha Tate will be getting back into the Octagon against Rousey for a third time. Rousey finished the first two fights against Tate with armbar submissions, with the second bout ending in 58 seconds.
She spoke about that matchup in her post-fight press conference.
As for the rest of the event, Maurcio “Shogun” Rua defeated Antonio Rogerio “Little Nog” Nogueira by unanimous decision, GlaicoFranca beat Fernando Bruno by submission, ReginaldoVieira won a unanimous decision over Dileno Lopes, Stefan Struve won a unanimous-decision victory over Antonio Rodrigo “Big Nog” Nogueira, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva knocked out SoaPalelei and Claudia Gadelha beat Jessica Aguilar by unanimous decision.
But the night belonged to Rousey, which is becoming a very common theme for the fighter. Rousey has become one of the sport’s biggest superstars, and until someone actually offers her a challenge, she’ll continue to rule her sport with an iron fist.
It wasn’t always pretty for Chris Weidman in his TKO of Vitor Belfort on Saturday night, especially in the early going, as the Brazilian dished out a ton of punishment to the champ. But Weidman was able to withstand the flurry and take Belfor…
It wasn’t always pretty for Chris Weidman in his TKO of VitorBelfort on Saturday night, especially in the early going, as the Brazilian dished out a ton of punishment to the champ. But Weidman was able to withstand the flurry and take Belfort to the mat and, well, the rest is history.
Below, we’ll take a look at the highlights and some of the post-match commentary from the fight.
Highlights
Post-Match Reaction
While Weidman and Belfort were more cordial after the match than they were before it, Weidman had a message specific for those fans who perhaps haven’t believed in the champion.
“Stop doubting me,” he said in the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “You better join the team now, it’s my last invitation.”
You can see the full interview below.
He also spoke with Megan Olivi after the fight.
While Weidman doesn’t know where he wants to fight next, he certainly knows where he wants to fight, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
“Everybody’s asking me about ‘Jacare’ (Souza) or (Luke) Rockhold, honestly it doesn’t matter. I want to fight either one of them in Madison Square Garden. As long as I’m in that venue, I’m a happy man. That’s a dream,” Weidman said.
“That’s really the focus. I’m going to talk to the UFC and find out what the deal is with that and we’ll probably go from there.”
He added, “Jacare would be amazing competition. I know Rockhold‘s here. I’m not the matchmaker, but I feel like Rockhold put on a better last performance than Jacare just because of the guys he fought. I’m not the matchmaker. All I want is a huge fight, preferably in Madison Square Garden.”
Weidman would be a logical choice to be added to the card in December, as he hails from New York and has really impressed in consecutive wins over Anderson Silva (twice), LyotoMachida and now Belfort.
Of course, Belfort didn’t make it easy, using his strong striking game to make Weidman look like a punching bag at points during the fight. Punching bags don’t have the ground-and-pound game of Weidman, however, a fact Belfort found out for himself the hard way.
It’s a lesson either Souza or Rockhold would be wise to heed if they face the champion next. Weidman has proven to be one of the UFC’s brightest stars and has taken down one legend after the next in his ascent in the sport, even if those fighters were perhaps a bit past their primes at the time.
Against Belfort, he showed the resiliency to take a beating until the momentum turned his way, and once he was able to get Belfort to the ground, the result seemed inevitable. Indeed, it was.
And you have to think the New York crowd in Madison Square Garden would love to see Weidman go for a 14-0 mark just as much as he would love to get there for them in the famous arena.
The level of domination that Ronda Rousey is showing in the bantamweight division of the UFC at the moment deserves some historical context. With her latest victory at UFC 184 over Cat Zingano—a submission win in just 14 seconds—the UF…
The level of domination that Ronda Rousey is showing in the bantamweight division of the UFC at the moment deserves some historical context. With her latest victory at UFC 184 over Cat Zingano—a submission win in just 14 seconds—the UFC has as close as it will ever get to a 100-point game from Wilt Chamberlain or a 56-game hitting streak from Joe DiMaggio.
It has taken Rousey just one minute and 36 seconds in total to win her last three fights. She is a perfect 11-0. She doesn’t win so much as she destroys, tearing through her opponents like a tornado ripping through a small town.
The questions, then, are: Who will challenge this force of nature next, and will they stand a chance? The former I’ll speculate on below. The latter seems fairly unlikely at this point, barring one potential matchup.
Holly Holm
Stylistically, this fight would make sense. Rousey is one of the most dangerous grapplers in the world, man or woman, whereas Holly Holm is a boxer. Holm is 8-0 and just won her debut UFC match against Raquel Pennington, so she could be up next for Rousey.
And the champion seems keen on that potential matchup.
“I was really impressed with Holly Holm,” Rousey told Brett Okamoto of ESP.com. “She is a world champion boxer, and I want to test myself against that caliber of striking.”
Of course, it hardly seems fair to throw Holm to the proverbial wolves after just one UFC fight, especially after a split decision. Had Holm dominated her match against Pennington a bit more, she might warrant consideration against Rousey.
Yes, the stylistic differences would be fun to watch. But for now, it seems likely Holm would be dramatically overmatched against Rousey.
Bethe Correia or Jessica Eye
The fact that Rousey also called out Bethe Correia, who is 9-0, makes the Brazilian a likely opponent as well, though more than a few folks would love to see Jessica Eye get a shot.
And Damon Martin of Fox Sports thinks the pair should decide who gets that shot in the Octagon:
Like Holm, it’s questionable whether either of these fighters is really prepared or even qualified at this point to take on Rousey; however, pitting them against each other and allowing the winner to face Rousey would be fascinating.
Cris “Cyborg” Justino
Let’s be honest: This is the fight we all want.
This is the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao superfight that fans of MMA desperately want. It could be a complicated process to make it happen, of course—Justino will likely have to concede to fight at bantamweight—but Rousey will never fully secure her legacy, dominant as she’s been, unless she beats Cyborg.
Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report thinks it is the perfect matchup:
Rousey and Cyborg have seemingly been on a collision course for years. One is a grappler, the other a striker. One an American, the other a Brazilian. One a bantamweight, the other a featherweight.
It’s these differences that make them such a compelling potential matchup. This is why mixed martial arts was created. This is a battle of styles and a battle of wills. It’s art versus art and athlete versus athlete, all in a single bout.
It is, in a word, epic.
It certainly would be. It would be a huge card for the UFC and the opportunity for both Rousey and Justino to prove once and for all who is the most dominant female fighter in the world. It would be a compelling tactical matchup.
And it probably won’t happen just yet.
But we can dream, folks, and at some point this fight will go down. If Mayweather and Pacquiao can figure it out, so can this pair. And when they do, well, there won’t be any fighting fans in the world who will want to miss that bout.
After a unanimous decision against Daniel Cormier in a fight he controlled most of the way, Jon Jones once again proved he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. While many folks couldn’t wait to see Jones do battle with the two-time Olympic w…
After a unanimous decision against Daniel Cormier in a fight he controlled most of the way, Jon Jones once again proved he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. While many folks couldn’t wait to see Jones do battle with the two-time Olympic wrestler, it was Jones who proved definitively that he was the superior fighter.
That means for UFC fans, there are really two fights left they likely want to see more than any other possibilities—a matchup against heavyweight Cain Velasquez and a rematch against Jones’ most difficult opponent to date, Alexander Gustafsson.
Jones certainly left open the possibility of fighting Cain, per Nancy Gay of the UFC:
But before that potential fight is even considered, Bones is likely to face the winner of the Anthony Johnson vs. Gustafsson fight at UFC on Fox 14. And the eight-time defending champion is ready to face whomever steps up next, as he told TristenCritchfield of Sherdog:
I don’t care which one I fight. To beat Anthony Johnson would be great because that’s somebody I haven’t fought yet, and he has a lot of believers. I‘m here to conquer all the land.
I do believe that I’ve beaten Alexander already—no matter how ugly it was or how close it was—I did win that fight. But at the same time, to shut up more haters and more doubters is starting to be one of my motivating factors.
I do love to fight. I love to honor the gift that God has given me. Proving haters wrong and the doubters wrong is a driving force as well.
One of the haters he would have to prove wrong would be Gustafsson, who posted the following on his Facebook account after Jones’ win over Cormier:
The two fought at UFC 165 in September 2013, and while Jones won a unanimous decision, he was also left bruised, bloodied and battered in a fight that most people consider the biggest test of his career and certainly the closest call during his championship reign.
The two were set up for a rematch at UFC 178, but Gustafsson had to withdraw, which cleared a path for Cormier to get his title shot, even after Jones had to postpone that match with an injury of his own.
Surely Gustafsson would like nothing more than to have his rematch. And for MMA fans who watched their previous battle, that rematch would be about as tantalizing as any potential UFC fight on the horizon. MMA writer Josh Gross certainly thinks so:
While there would be novelty in a Jones vs. Johnson fight, the matchup that will draw the biggest buzz is a rematch against Gustafsson. Nothing draws more attention than the possibility of a champion losing his belt, and nobody came closer to taking Jones’ title than Gustafsson.
Should Gustafsson beat Johnson, the UFC would be crazy to schedule anything other than a Jones vs. Gustafsson rematch. And MMA fans would be crazy to miss it.
By Ronda