As if we needed another metric on Ronda Rousey‘s dominance in the MMA cage.
What may be most telling about Rousey‘s latest comments is how believable they sound. If any other UFC fighter claimed to never have sustained so much as a bruise in competition, the chuckles would be audible.
Not with Rousey. While discussing her career arc on Monday’s edition of the ESPN talk show Highly Questionable, the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champ said she has essentially emerged unscathed from each of her 11 professional contests.
“I haven’t even gotten a bruise from getting hit yet,” she told show hosts Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones. “If it keeps going like that, I’ll have a much longer career, but if I have a couple five-round wars, it’ll be a lot shorter.”
Understandably incredulous, Le Batard immediately followed up.
“You haven’t had a bruise?” he asked. “You haven’t had a pain? You haven’t had, like, in all of your fighting time, you literally haven’t had a bruise? You’re not exaggerating there?”
Rousey responded with a slight clarification, noting that she had not had a bruise “from getting hit.” She then noted that her most egregious injury to date was a cut she sustained on her knuckle after punching Alexis Davis. Her fight with Davis was over in 16 seconds.
Quick finishes are in no way unusual for Rousey, a fact that underscores what an unusual fighter she is. The 28-year-old is 11-0 as a pro and has only left the first round once, when rival Miesha Tate took her to the third round in their 2013 rematch.
Rousey‘s five UFC contests have lasted a total of 17 minutes and 23 seconds, or a little more than three minutes per contest. For comparison’s sake, a full five-round UFC title fight lasts 25 minutes.
In her most recent bout, Rousey dispatched Cat Zingano in 14 seconds.
You get the idea.
Rousey is scheduled to fight again this August at UFC 190, where she is expected to take on Brazilian Bethe Correia. It’s a fight Correia has repeatedly requested, in part through post-fight trash talk issued after defeating two of Rousey‘s close friends and training partners, Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler.
Rousey is the early favorite to win that fight.
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