UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey would probably appreciate some help selling her fights, but she isn’t looking for bulletin board material. Booked against another demure opponent happy to avoid the spotlight, Rousey just needs Alexis Davis to show up for their title bout at UFC 175 on Jul. 5. Fiery rival or meek missing person, it doesn’t matter.
“It doesn’t change anything for me because I’m not an emotional fighter,” Rousey told FOX Sports. “I have zero emotion when I go in there and fight. It could be my best friend in the world or it could be my worst enemy. I would fight them the same. I would fight Miesha Tate and Shayna Baszler in exactly the same way. I love Shayna and I can’t stand Miesha but emotions have nothing to do with the way I fight. Fighting is absent of emotion for me.”
One angle being leaned on for promotion is the fact that Rousey has yet to face a top-flight Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player in her 9-0 career. A black belt under Cesar Gracie now training alongside world champion grappler Caio Terra, Davis gives Rousey the chance to check that box.
“It’s definitely an interesting new challenge,” said Rousey. “One thing that I couldn’t stand when I was just watching MMA and coming from Judo was all these people talking about how the Jiu Jitsu people would beat any Judo player. It was such a stereotype that I thought, and still think, that I could beat any girl in the world, any weight division, gi or no-gi, black belt and in any ruleset they want, in just pure Jiu Jitsu.
“I really feel like the Judokas that do excel in Newaza, which is our term for groundwork, have never really gotten enough respect. This fight against Alexis, who is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and the kind of person I’ve heard my whole life should be the type to tap me out no problem, would be nice to prove a point against her. Then again, I always have people saying that my striking is terrible and she’s a well-noted Muay Thai fighter so any way that I can beat her I think would prove a good point.”
Ronda Rousey defends her UFC women’s bantamweight title to Alexis Davis Jul. 5 at UFC 175 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
‘F him.’ Josh Barnett really isn’t interested in fighting Antonio Silva. ‘I’m not going to help him gain any ground in any way, even by losing to me. I’m not going to get him paid.’
‘He’s still B.J. Penn.’ Frankie Edgar talks no longer being an underdog against the legend. ‘I don’t want to lose the third time out. The first two times, I wasn’t supposed to win. Now, I’m supposed to win.’
Lombard out. Tyron Woodley steps in for an injured Hector Lombard to face Dong Hyun Kim in Macau.
Not a fan. Ben Saunders on Bjorn Rebney: ‘I did everything in my power to get his ass fired from Bellator MMA.’
Too much MMA. Kevin Iole explains why the UFC’s over-saturation might not be a bad thing.
Make sure to check out The MMA Hour featuring Frankie Edgar in studio, Josh Barnett, Ray Longo, Ralek Gracie and Paige VanZant.
MEDIA STEW
UFC 174: Fight Motion.
A quick look at Ben Henderson’s time competing at ADCC 2013.
STATIC: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber.
Fight week vlog with Jeremy Stephens.
Cub Swanson talks about almost moving to bantamweight and nearly leaving fighting to return to soccer.
Free Fight: Cub Swanson vs. Ross Pearson.
Long watches.
Opie & Anthony – Chris Weidman & Frankie Edgar In Studio (06-23-2014)
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WSOF11 Press Conference – Justin Gaethje vs Nick Newell July 5th 2014
TWEETS
Right back in.
It’s not always lack of training that defeats us, sometimes it’s ourselves!@ufc #ufc #lessonlearned #stronger #better pic.twitter.com/ViSePbT3WM
— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) June 24, 2014
Congrats.
LADIES/GENTS ~ @danawhite has invited me to sign & be part of the @ufc expo JULY 5th-6th in LAS VEGAS – 8 years since I was part of the UFC
— KEN SHAMROCK (@ShamrockKen) June 23, 2014
Damn.
4 stitches in my lip from hitting myself with a hammer lmao damn. How the hell do I hit myself with a hammer? Lol #stupiddumb
— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) June 23, 2014
ICYMI.
In case anyone missed it last week, yes, I’m retired from MMA competition. Everything I have to say about it is here: http://t.co/qR1liZhhMY
— Rosi Sexton (@RosiSexton) June 23, 2014
But they grant three wishes.
We can only bring two pictures with us on TUF. I want one of them to be a visual of my ultimate goal during… http://t.co/DsRcda0vzx
— Rose Namajunas (@rosenamajunas) June 23, 2014
Spoiler alert.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, sad face:( I really wanted to do better. Sorry guys, hopefully they bring me back… http://t.co/s5CZLYHOfz
— Michelle Waterson (@karatehottiemma) June 24, 2014
Kinda cool.
time lapse from my gym the other night. @lauzonmma #ufc #mma #teamaggression #eastonMA http://t.co/O682dr9IKb
— Joe Lauzon (@JoeLauzon) June 23, 2014
Trying out for the Cincinnati Bengals?
My photo shoot today turned into a full on workout … A 3 hour one… @fighterworkouts I hope you’re… http://t.co/PNjuWMzpyx
— Felice Herrig (@feliceherrig) June 24, 2014
Ol’ Blue Eyes.
Never Forget… @ALIAQUINTA #LongoIsland pic.twitter.com/AZuRzPyBew
— Renato Laranja (@Renato_Laranja) June 24, 2014
Weidman choking on Good Morning America.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (June 23 2014)
Hector Lombard out, Dong Hyun Kim vs. Tyron Woodley at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via DirtyBird2.
DirtyBird2’s Weekly Prospect Breakdown
Due to the request of some members I will be doing a weekly breakdown of prospects to look out for. The overall landscape of MMA is in no lack of stars and future stars and I’ll highlight the ones to look out for.
Last week I did Russian HW Konstantin Erokhin, ( http://www.mmamania.com/2014/6/16/5815946/dirtybird2s-weekly-prospect-breakdown ) this week keeping it in the HW Division I will focus on one of the TOP prospects out there Marcin Tybura.
Marcin “Tybur” Tybura 6’3 242lbs 28 years of age and a perfect 10-0 record. He’s one of the top dogs in M-1 and the biggest fight M-1 can put together is coming up for him next. In August he will face Damain Grabowski. (19-1) who is a perfect 6-0 since his soul loss in Bellator to former champ Cole Konrad. The winner is the Best HW prospect outside the Major orgs. Hands down.
Here’s some Tybura highlights
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Check out the rest of the post here.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.