Yes, it really is that simple.
Ronda Rousey is the greatest female mixed martial artist up to this point. She is head and shoulders above everyone.
There have been a lot of solid female mixed martial artists to grace rings and cages over the years, but what we are watching now with Rousey is something completely new. It is reminiscent of how the men’s action progressed.
Rousey is an elite athlete with impeccable technique. She is the new breed of fighter that women’s MMA needs and is in the process of getting. Her importance cannot be overstated. Because of Rousey’s presence, and dominance atop the MMA world, more and more top level athletes will come to MMA.
If a case is being made by another other than Rousey to be the greatest female fighter of all-time it would be Cyborg Santos. However, Santos’ resume does not hold weight when broken down.
Shayna Baszler is a 135-pounder, Hitomi Akano is an undersized bantamweight, and Jan Finney is another bantamweight who had no business chalenging Cyborg. Marloes Coenen competes well at featherweight, but the size difference was too much when they met in 2010. Cyborg has only fought two legitimate featherweights: Hiroko Yamanaka and Gina Carano.
Yamanaka got destroyed in 16 seconds. Yamanaka is an okay featherweight at best, and had way too many technical holes in her striking defense to ever be a threat to Cyborg.
Carano may be the only fighter that has matched up well physically against Cyborg. Carano even had mount against her, but wanted to stand with the Brazilian phenom. Carano is not the level of fighter that Rousey is.
Some may bring up Megumi Fujii as someone who deserves the title as the greatest female fighter ever, and it is one she held until Rousey’s recent domination.
Fujii is a legend. She is phenomenal on the ground and could be riding a 27 fight undefeated streak if not for two questionable decisions in Bellator. Where the argument for her falls short is her striking ability and athleticism.
She has had numerous fights stay on the feet and Fujii has showed definite striking deficiencies. Thankfully, her ground game more than makes up for it. Rousey has not been in a fight long enough to truly show off her striking prowess, but there have been flashes of her growing technique.
And thanks to Showtime’s All Access program we even got to see Rousey’s boxing work with Richard Perez in Northern California. It is clear that her striking is up to par in the bantamweight division, but she simply does not need to showcase it.
A solid case can be made for Fujii based on her win total and amazing ground game, but when you watch the two perform, it is clear who is the better fighter. “MegaMegu” is beloved, but Rousey is a special talent.
A dominant run as champion has begun and shows no sign of stopping. For the foreseeable future it looks that Rousey is unstoppable. She is the greatest female fighter, pound-for-pound, ever.
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