Ronda Rousey Might Be the Scariest Female On the Planet
I will never forget the first time I ever attended a Ronda Rousey fight.
Las Vegas has its share of fine local promotions, but the most enduring is Tuff-N-Uff, long considered a great home for amateur fighters to hone their skills. I’m being honest when I say that I wasn’t familiar with Rousey or her Olympic background when she stepped into the cage to face Autumn Richardson in the first quarterfinal bout of a women’s featherweight tournament.
Rousey dispatched Richardson with an armbar in just under a minute that night. I was intrigued.
But there were still plenty of questions surrounding Rousey. Could she use that very specific skill against higher-caliber fighters?
That question has been emphatically answered, and in brutal fashion. Last night, Rousey went in the cage against now-former Strikeforce bantamweight champion Meisha Tate and did exactly what everyone suspected she’d do—she scored another first-round submission by armbar.
The terrifying thing about Rousey isn’t her supreme athletic ability, her balance or her insane knack for maintaining grappling control in a fight. The one thing that sets Rousey apart from all other women in the sport (save perhaps Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos) is her killer instinct and utter lack of remorse for her opponents.
If you fight Rousey, she’s going to get you in an armbar at some point in the fight. It’s a certainty.
And if you do not tap once she has that armbar applied, she will gladly break your arm. We saw it against Julia Budd, and we saw it last night against Miesha Tate. If you don’t have the intelligence to tap out, or if you think it’s a better idea to be tough than to submit when she gives you the chance, she will mangle your limb.
Rousey may ultimately do what Gina Carano couldn’t and become the first true enduring female mixed martial arts star. She’s got the looks and the verbal ability, but she also has the killer instinct that Carano was missing. She’s a superstar in the making.
Hiring a Neo-Nazi Sex Offender Probably Isn’t the Best Idea
In fairness to Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby, he had no idea that Brandon Saling was a neo-Nazi sympathizer and registered sex offender when he booked Saling for a bout against Roger Bowling on the Strikeforce preliminary card last night.
Background checks for fighters haven’t been a part of the matchmaking process. But after finding out that Saling was charged with gross sexual imposition after the rape of a girl under the age of 13, you can bet your bottom dollar that every single fighter Zuffa looks to book for one of their events, UFC and Strikeforce included, will be vetted via some form of personal history search.
It’s the right thing to do.
Gilbert Melendez Still Has No Real Opponent
Josh Thomson’s win over K.J. Noons allegedly installed him as the next contender for lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. I’m not so sure.
UFC President Dana White has repeatedly told the media that Melendez and his very vocal fanbase would be “very happy” with the opponents Zuffa gives him in his next few fights, and another bout with Thomson doesn’t really fit that criteria.
I don’t believe Thomson will get the next shot at Melendez, and I think we’re all going to be surprised when Zuffa finally reveals his next opponent.
Dana White Finally Gives Up On Strikeforce
In the weeks leading up to last night’s event, Dana White told the media that he’d finally been given control of the Strikeforce production. He was excited to unveil changes to the product, changes that would make things better for the viewing audience.
Those changes were nowhere to be seen during last night’s broadcast, and for good reason. White tweeted that Showtime vetoed White’s involvement in the event.
@BenShuffain @strikeforce tell Showtime, they run that shit not me. I’m out. I’m 100% UFC
This doesn’t bode well for Strikeforce’s future. If White isn’t interested in the product, Strikeforce is losing the man who could be their biggest ally.
It also means Strikeforce is living on borrowed time.
Mauro Ranallo Sure Loves Big Words, Doesn’t He?
I tend to rag on UFC announcer Mike Goldberg a bit more than I should, but at least he doesn’t come across like he has a thesaurus on the desk in front of him when he’s announcing UFC events.
I generally enjoy Mauro’s work, but it’s time to get rid of the nonsense. One of my pet peeves are writers who use 20 words to complete a sentence when just six will do.
Ranallo needs to apply the same concept to his broadcasting work.
And don’t even get me started on Frank Shamrock, who almost always comes across like he’s not even watching the fights unfolding right in front of his face.
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