GLENDALE, Calif. — Ronda Rousey’s sense of timing extends outside the Octagon.
The UFC women’s bantamweight champion admitted her shot at Floyd Mayweather on Wednesday night at the ESPYs was a calculated and pre-meditated one.
Last year, Mayweather was asked if Rousey could beat him up. Mayweather said he didn’t know who Rousey was. On Wednesday night, after beating out Mayweather for Fighter of the Year, Rousey let him have it with a knockout blow referring to Mayweather’s history of domestic violence.
“I can’t help but really say that I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once,” Rousey said. “I’d like to see him pretend to not know who I am now.”
Rousey said at a media day Thursday at her Glendale Fighting Club gym that the quip’s allusion to Mayweather’s jail time and multiple domestic abuse arrests was “obvious.” And “Rowdy” had been waiting to let it loose for a long time.
“I don’t let this kind of thing slide, but I’m a patient girl,” Rousey said. “I wanted to respond at the most appropriate time where I thought I could make the biggest impression that I’m not the kind of chick you make snarky remarks about. And so I waited a whole year to say something. And you know what? If I didn’t win Best Fighter this year, I would have waited two years or I would’ve waited three years.”
Rousey, 28, thought Mayweather was taking a dig at her by saying he didn’t know who she was. Initially, Mayweather thought he was being asked about a male fighter, referring to Rousey as “he.”
“I know for damn sure that he knew who I was, because he was running against me for Best Fighter that year and he has signed MMA fighters,” Rousey said. “So his feigned ignorance was meant to be a snarky remark to me.”
Why wait this long for the well-placed rip? Maximum exposure, of course.
“Yeah, I thought it’d get a big reaction,” Rousey said. “And I got a fight to sell, so great timing, huh? I’m not dumb.”
Rousey (11-0) fights Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190 on Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro. The champion is a massive favorite and many expect her to beat Corriea inside the first round. Rousey’s last two fights combined lasted just 30 seconds.
So maybe the bout could use some extra juice. Rousey sure does know how to push the right public-relations buttons, since every major media outlet in the country picked up the Mayweather jab.
Rousey said she hasn’t heard any kind of response from Mayweather’s camp and wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t.
“I’ve said before revenge is a dish best served cold,” Rousey said. “I try my best not to be compulsive about with those kind of things, because I think a methodical enemy is the worst kind to have. People are trying to say things trying to get a white hot reaction out of me. I try to do the opposite and react at the time that benefits me the most.”