Filed under: StrikeforceStrikeforce’s 2011 came to a close on Saturday night in San Diego, but the organization will live on in 2012. Whether that’s good news or bad news for the fighters on the roster remains to be seen, but this latest event did seem…
Strikeforce’s 2011 came to a close on Saturday night in San Diego, but the organization will live on in 2012. Whether that’s good news or bad news for the fighters on the roster remains to be seen, but this latest event did seem to be some kind of harbinger of things to come, for better or worse.
Biggest Winner: Cris “Cyborg” Santos
There aren’t many ways to enter a bout as a 9-1 favorite and still exceed expectations, but by crushing Hiroko Yamanaka in 16 seconds, Santos found one. If anything, Santos is a little too dominant for her own good. After a year and a half out of the cage, she probably could have used a round or two of work just to stay sharp. Instead she went out there and Mike Tyson’d yet another overmatched opponent, leaving us to wonder whether there’s any woman in the world who can possibly compete with the Brazilian. The powers that be seem to be eyeing Ronda Rousey as the next challenger, but Rousey seems savvy enough to know she’d be better off dropping to 135 pounds and chasing smaller, less terrifying prey. Now that Santos has laid waste to the 145-pound division, she might have no choice but to try and follow her down. If she can lose that much weight without the aid of a tapeworm, that is.
Biggest Loser: Jorge Masvidal
This might have been his last best chance to break out of the journeyman mold and claim some bit of greatness for himself, but he sure didn’t fight like it. Word is that he went into this one with an injured hand, which might explain why he wasn’t swinging for Melendez’s brain stem with wild abandon down the stretch. Still, he had to know he was down on the cards and wasn’t going to end it with takedowns in the final round, so what exactly was his plan for victory? Even with Strikeforce’s lean roster, he’ll have a hard time getting another title shot while he’s still young and able. He needed to make this one count, and he didn’t. Even with Melendez’s eye swelling shut in the fifth, Masvidal kept fighting like he had two more rounds to make his move. It isn’t easy to go for broke with an injured hand, but when you’re running out of time to dethrone the champ in what might be the only shot you’ll ever get, what other choice do you really have?
Most in Need of a Change: Gilbert Melendez
What’s the worst part about his continued stay in Strikeforce? Forget the lack of money and attention, it’s the dearth of quality opponents. You look around the Strikeforce roster and there’s not a single potential challenger who Melendez wouldn’t be a huge favorite against. And when you’re the favorite, as he was against Masvidal, it’s not always enough to win a smart, strategic decision. Not if you’re trying to create a buzz and get fans to demand your presence in the UFC. You can’t fault Melendez for fighting the way he did, but neither can you say that it upped his stock on Saturday night. Unless Strikeforce signs some new talent — or the UFC loans it some — Melendez is looking at more and more of these fights for as long as he’s stuck in the Hexagon. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. And if you can’t even get a fight with the best, then you need to absolutely smash the other guys just to stay in the conversation. It’s a tough situation for Melendez, and it isn’t getting any easier.
Most Improved: Gegard Mousasi
Looks like someone finally had enough of getting out-wrestled on the American MMA scene. After having that aspect of his game exposed by Mo Lawal (and, to a lesser extent, Keith Jardine), Mousasi clearly spent some time in the wrestling room and made some real strides of late. Granted, he’s still not going to double-leg his way to a win over someone like King Mo, but maybe he can at least get good enough to stay upright against him. That is, maybe he can get there if only he’d start believing in himself a little more. After his decision win over Ovince St. Preux, Mousasi did his best to talk his way out of a potential title shot, implying that maybe there were others who might be more deserving. It reminded me of his demeanor after the draw against Jardine. He stayed in his seat well after the post-fight press conference ended, staring down at the table as his coaches tried to cheer him up. No matter how much they told him that he got robbed by the judges (which he did) or that he fought well (which he sort of did), he still looked and talked like a kid whose puppy had just been run over. It’s nice to be honest with yourself about where you stand. It’s also good to expect better and better performances from yourself. But at some point you cross the line from demanding to unnecessarily negative, and that doesn’t help you. Cheer up, Gegard. You’re not doing so bad for a 26-year-old pro fighter.
Least Improved: Showtime broadcast
You’d think that with as many Strikeforce events as the Showtime crew has done, they’d have it down cold by now. You’d be wrong. First they got off to a late start after the Super Six aftermath turned into a Wimbledon-style trophy presentation. Then, once the transition from boxing to MMA was complete, the simple task of reading the results of a clumsy Facebook poll proved more than any one person could handle. Between awkward interviews, weird sound miscues, and a broadcast team that seemed like it would have rather been somewhere else, it was a rough night. Even Pat Miletich, who’s usually the very best ex-fighter commentator out there, had to be repeatedly dragged into the conversation by Mauro Ranallo. What’s normally fun banter between the broadcast team became simply distracting, and you almost wished some producer would have stepped in and told them to play nice. I realize that broadcasting live sporting events isn’t easy, and anybody can have an off-night, but if you compare Showtime’s product to the one the UFC puts on pay-per-view more than 20 times a year, they aren’t even close. It’s like the difference between the picture of the cake that’s in the cookbook and the half-sunken, dried-out mound you pull out of your oven after failing to read the directions carefully. If you want me to believe that Strikeforce is a top-tier organization, start with presentation.
Most Surprising: KJ Noons and Billy Evangelista
Who would have guessed that this would be one of the most exciting and competitive fights on the card? Noons and Evangelista mixed it up something fierce, and in the end the judges got it right when they gave the nod to Noons. But what’s also surprising is the word that Noons was supposedly considering retirement (at least in theory) if he lost to Evangelista. I can understand feeling like he needed to win one — after two losses in a row, he did — but it’s not like Evangelista is some chump that any decent fighter should be able to stroll through. He’s a skilled, game opponent, and he showed it in the later rounds. Noons can be proud of that win, and with a few tactical changes here and there he’s right back in the conversation at lightweight. Strikeforce’s roster might be thin right now, but that’s good news for guys like Noons. It means there’s a short climb to the top of the 155-pound division, even if there’s a heap of trouble waiting for you when you get there.
Yeah, she spent more time on the cage than in it. (Photo: Las Vegas Sun)
Since the late 90’s I’ve seen the same assertion rear its head on MMA email lists, usenet groups, and internet forums from time to time: The best fighter in the world isn’t in the cage or the ring. He’s toiling away in a South American coal mine or defending his land in Sub-Saharan Africa. His legend will never extend beyond the shores of his remote Pacific island and he’ll never be able to prove his abilities to the world. To a certain degree, this must be what life is like for Gilbert Melendez.
Finding out that your company is staying afloat and that your job is secure would normally be terrific news, but despite his admirable towing of the company line, you have to know that “El Niño” was gutted when he realized that Strikeforce wasn’t going anywhere and neither was he. The bright lights, big networks, and top paydays of the UFC will not be his. More importantly, neither is the opportunity to prove himself against the best in the world.
Yeah, she spent more time on the cage than in it. (Photo: Las Vegas Sun)
Since the late 90′s I’ve seen the same assertion rear its head on MMA email lists, usenet groups, and internet forums from time to time: The best fighter in the world isn’t in the cage or the ring. He’s toiling away in a South American coal mine or defending his land in Sub-Saharan Africa. His legend will never extend beyond the shores of his remote Pacific island and he’ll never be able to prove his abilities to the world. To a certain degree, this must be what life is like for Gilbert Melendez.
Finding out that your company is staying afloat and that your job is secure would normally be terrific news, but despite his admirable towing of the company line, you have to know that “El Niño” was gutted when he realized that Strikeforce wasn’t going anywhere and neither was he. The bright lights, big networks, and top paydays of the UFC will not be his. More importantly, neither is the opportunity to prove himself against the best in the world.
Strikeforce has thus far found Melendez the best competition available, but there’s no question that he’s outgrown his little pond. Bouts against ranked, or even credible, competition will be few and far between from here on out, which is why it’s all the more important that the champ make a statement with each and every punch. Last night he failed to do that. This is not to take away from Masvidal, as he is dangerous, but most consensus rankings place him somewhere in the mid-to-high 20′s. Melendez put together solid combinations and stayed out of trouble round after round, which was more than enough to convincingly win the fight. But right now he’s stranded out on that island. If he wants to earn the kind of attention and respect that he’s after, he’s going to have to light a massive fire and scream a little louder with his performances.
“Cyborg” Santos has a different kind of problem. If I was a female mixed martial artist I’d be investing in a compass and a rubber dingy and setting sail for some place uncharted. Dominatrix Hiroko Yamanaka found herself on the receiving end of a beating last night. Something tells me it was neither as enjoyable nor lucrative as her other gig. Keep in mind that Yamanaka wasn’t suggested to Strikeforce by a local fraternity—this was the #2 female fighter at 145lbs, and she got trounced in sixteen seconds. To paraphrase Dan Henderson: the question isn’t whether the fight was stopped too early, it’s whether it should have even started in the first place. Cyborg is talking about dropping weight in search of better competition. If that happens you can expect a sudden interest in a 125 lb. division to emerge. A match with bantamweight champion Miesha Tate may offer the Brazilian her best challenge. Another option being mentioned is a bout with MMA upstart Ronda Rousey. Rousey’s transition to MMA has nothing short of amazing thus far. Her lack of in-cage experience hasn’t deterred her from beefing with Miesha Tate, and while I think jumping into the deep end of the shark tank with Cyborg would be ill-advised, if “Rowdy” really wants to take the helm of WMMA then she needn’t cut carbs out of her diet just yet.
The evening’s undercard yielded more competitive action and decision wins for K.J. Noons and Gegard Mousasi.
Noons came up short in the stand-up battle in round one. Neither man capitalized on successful takedowns, and as the two traded hands Billy Evangelista got the better of the exchanges. Noons wisely varied his attack with kicks and combinations in rounds two and three. It was enough to take those rounds but not enough to wipe the mocking smirk from Evangelista’s face. Noons faded in round three and nearly fell victim to a choke, but he survived and broke his two-fight skid.
Gegard Mousasi also managed to pick up his first win in three Strikeforce appearances, though “The Dreamcatcher” had been active outside of the organization. This was a big step up in competition for the streaking Ovince St. Preux, who came into the bout on an 8-0 run. Mousasi’s calm aggression and experience allowed him to control the former defensive end and come close to ending things more than once in the first round. OSP (so we’re officially running with that, right?) simply wasn’t ready for the next level, but he put Mousasi in more than one precarious position and shouldn’t be embarrassed by his performance. No, that dishonor falls squarely on the shoulders of referee Steven Davis, who not only threatened to stand fighters up when they had dominant positions but actually did so as they actively unloaded on their opponents. The words “piss poor” come to mind.
Main Bouts (on Showtime):
-Gilbert Melendez def. Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
-Cris “Cyborg” Santos def. Hiroko Yamanaka by TKO at :16, R1
-Gegard Mousasi def. Ovince St-Preux by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
-K.J. Noons def. Billy Evangelista by unanimous decison (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Bouts (non-televised): -Caros Fodor def. Justin Wilcox by KO at 0:13, R1
-Roger Bowling def. Jerron Peoples KO (Strikes) at 0:42, R1
-Devin Cole def. Gabriel Salinas-Jones by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3
-Eddie Mendez def. Fernando Gonzalez by Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29), R3
-Herman Terrado def. Chris Brown by Submission (Armbar) R3
Filed under: StrikeforceThe grand Strikeforce experiment will continue, whether fighters like it or not. Zuffa’s other organization takes its next step tonight in San Diego with Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal, and it’s already been a whirlwind week…
The grand Strikeforce experiment will continue, whether fighters like it or not. Zuffa’s other organization takes its next step tonight in San Diego with Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal, and it’s already been a whirlwind week for the company that Scott Coker built. Below, a few questions, concerns, and comments heading into Saturday night’s event on Showtime.
I. That silence you hear? Yeah, that’s one reason why guys like Gilbert Melendez can’t wait to get out of Strikeforce and into the UFC. Fighters may not care how many articles get written about them in the lead-up to a fight, but they are still risking their health and whatever remains of their good looks in the cage on fight night, so they would prefer if people gave a damn. When it comes to Strikeforce these days, not many do. Maybe that’s why Melendez still talks openly about how much he’d like to move to the UFC, trying to paint this title defense against Jorge Masvidal as if it’s the last perfunctory step in the job application process for a UFC lightweight. Can you blame him? There’s no buzz for Saturday night’s event — not among media or fans. Dana White can “make it right” for Melendez by cutting him a check to compensate him for being stuck in Strikeforce, but he can’t make people care.
II. Money might help to make it right, but only for so long. Sure, Melendez’s desire to get to the UFC is partially motivated by financial concerns, and that’s the part White can help with. But don’t underestimate the role of ego here. Melendez wants to get paid, but he also wants to know that he’s testing himself against the best in the world, and on the biggest stage in the sport. He’s not getting the chance to do that right now, and he knows it. Nothing against Masvidal, but a win over him doesn’t do much to boost Melendez’s status in the lightweight rankings. It’s a fight where he has far more to lose than gain, in other words. The longer he stays in Strikeforce, the more of those he’s likely to have.
III. So what is Strikeforce, now that it’s not going away any time soon? Stephen Espinoza of Showtime Sports insisted on this week’s media call that “Strikeforce is not a secondary brand. …This is a top-tier organization.” If that were even close to true, however, you probably wouldn’t need to say it. People would just look at the fighters and the fights, and then they’d know. But what we see when we look at Strikeforce is an organization with a few very good fighters and a diminishing cast of also-rans to match them up against. It’s true that Melendez isn’t a second-tier fighter, but what does it matter if Strikeforce can’t find first-tier opponents for him? It’s like White has said about the UFC for years, usually when he wants to disparage the accomplishments of someone like Fedor Emelianenko: the UFC is the place where the best fight the best several times a year. Strikeforce might have some great champions, but they aren’t fighting the best right now. Melendez could make his case as one of the world’s best lightweights, but Jorge Masvidal can’t. Luke Rockhold is an excellent middleweight, but Keith Jardine isn’t a middleweight at all yet, much less a top contender in the division. It would be utterly unthinkable for Jardine to get a crack at Anderson Silva’s middleweight title. But in Strikeforce? Sure, why not. That probably tells us everything we need to know about whether this is a top-tier organization.
IV. Cris “Cyborg” Santos had to wait a year and a half to get another fight in Strikeforce. If she rolls right over Hiroko Yamanaka the way most people are expecting her to, how long will she have to wait for the next one? The answer to that question probably depends on whether she could realistically cut to 135 pounds or not. There simply aren’t enough opponents to keep her on a steady diet of challengers at 145 pounds, but you take one look at her frame and it’s hard to see where the excess pounds would come from. At the same time, if she stays put she’s not going to have much to do.
V. For a guy who hasn’t lost in nearly two years, Gegard Mousasi sure needs a win in a bad way. He’s 3-0-1 since dropping the title to Mo Lawal, but all three of those victories have come in Dream, against fairly unimpressive competition. He should have stomped an aging journeyman like Jardine, but instead ended up with a disappointing draw. If Mousasi is going to live up to his initial promise, he needs to start putting some wins together against opponents who matter. Beating up-and-comer Ovince St. Preux would be a good start, but it would only be a start. That’s what makes this such a tough fight for Mousasi. He has to win. OSP just needs to look good and stay competitive.
VI. Now that Zuffa runs Strikeforce, is KJ Noons in danger of getting cut if he loses his third straight fight? It’s hard to believe that the guy who was Nick Diaz’s nemesis and Gilbert Melendez’s would-be challenger now finds himself on a two-fight losing streak. In fairness, the first was a decision loss to Diaz, and there’s no shame in that — especially when you’re fighting out of your natural weight class to begin with. But then Noons dropped a decision to Masvidal in a bout he was favored in, so he now finds himself in a must-win situation against Billy Evangelista. Or does he? While the UFC might not have much use for serial losers, Strikeforce needs anyone with a name and even a modicum of drawing power. Noons still has both, so maybe that would be enough to justify holding on to him even if he loses. At least that’s one way Strikeforce’s peculiar status could actually work for fighters rather than against them.
VII. Justin Wilcox and Roger Bowling make you wonder: is it better to star on Challengers, or fight in the shadows of the Strikeforce prelims? For the last few years Strikeforce has used the Challengers shows to highlight up-and-comers (and occasionally down-and-outers), while using the prelims of its other events to sell a few tickets with local draws. But now that Challengers is disappearing, it seems as though guys like Wilcox and Bowling will get stuck on Strikeforce prelims instead, which seems both good and bad. For one thing, Challengers wasn’t ever a ratings winner, and the association had a certain negative connotation, like being on the JV squad. On the other hand, at least Challengers fights were on TV. At least they were the show, rather than the unaired show before the show. They might have thought they were playing to a tiny audience before, but now they’re really knocking down trees in a lonely forest. If you put on a great fight and nobody sees it, does it really make a sound?
She doesn’t mind controversy in general, really. Something has to bring attention to women’s MMA and, at least the way Rousey sees it, all the fighters trying to out-nice each other isn’t going to do it.
“My goal is not the be the most liked girl in women’s MMA,” Rousey told Ariel Helwani on Tuesday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I want to be the most talked about girl in women’s MMA. If there’s a lot of controversy, people saying I suck, I’m cocky, or it was a good fight or an amazing move — as long as there’s polarizing opinions and people want to discuss it.”
Rousey, who won an Olympic bronze medal in women’s judo in the 2008 Beijing games, improved her MMA record to 3-0 with a first-round armbar victory over D’Alelio on August 12. Referee Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage at the 25-second mark of the bout drew immediate criticism, as D’Alelio clearly didn’t tap to the submission.
After the bout, D’Alelio admitted that she’d made some verbal indication of pain when Rousey jumped into the armbar, and that was apparently good enough to bring the bout to a halt.
“I think the referee was right to stop the fight,” Rousey said. “They tell you the second that you walk in, like right before you walk in, they tell you, ‘If you’re in a submission, anything verbal, like if you yell or scream or anything like that we’ll call the fight.’ So she was very aware that that was the case. It’s not like she didn’t know that that was the rule or something like that, because they literally tell you right before you walk out.”
In case you couldn’t tell, Rousey isn’t one to hold her tongue, nor is she aiming to be the Ms. Congeniality of the women’s MMA world. She had enough of that on the U.S. Olympic judo squad, she said, and she doesn’t think it helps raise her profile or that of the sport to do it now.
“When I was in the Olympics and I was representing the United States I had to be very proper, like, yes, this is the right thing to say and I won’t say anything about how I think [George] Bush is a retard,” Rousey said. “I’m just going to go say what they want me to say and look bright and shiny and go win.
“But doing MMA, you’re representing yourself. You’re not representing your country. I feel like what women’s MMA needs is not some nice girl. Everyone’s playing the nice card and they’re not willing to go under any kind of criticism and I really feel that that’s not what we need if we want to get as much exposure as possible. We need someone more like a Tito Ortiz-type personality — not that I’m trying to be that much of a d–k, no offense to Tito. But I want to be one of those people who people either love then or hate them and groups of people actually have heated discussions about it. I want there to be attention on the sport, and if I have to attract some bad attention to get that, then fine I’ll be willing to be that person.”
Not that Rousey is exactly new to being a bit of a renegade, she admitted. Like most male fighters, she did her share of fighting outside of a sporting context, even if it only brought her trouble.
“I’ve never gotten away with a fight in my entire life. I even got jumped by a bunch of guys once and I beat them up, and they sued me for assault. Every fight I got into in school, I always got a suspension or community service, and it’s just never been worth it to me. If I could get in a fight without there being legal repercussions, I would be in a fight every single day. I don’t go out to clubs at all, because I know if someone grabs my a– I’ll punch them in the face.”
But now that she’s trying to make a career out of MMA, Rousey isn’t afraid to make herself a lightning rod for criticism, or to use her looks to get attention from fans, even if all her peers might not like it.
“I fought for a long time to get in the Olympics and win an Olympic medal wearing, like, a bathrobe, and I ended up with ten grand and a handshake,” she said. “What do you really want me to do? If it was a perfect world where I could walk in there, just roll out of bed and go in there and make the same money, then fine. But I fought for pride for a long time and ended up with nothing but a box full of medals. If I want to make this a career I have to play up the looks side. The people that criticize it are the people that aren’t in that situation.”
The fact the more attractive female fighters stand to make more money shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Rousey said, even if it’s a topic some in the sport would rather ignore.
“I mean, it’s more entertaining to watch two [attractive] girls wrestling around than two ugly girls wrestling around,” said Rousey. “I’m sorry I had to like, point out the elephant in the room, but that’s the truth. That’s what people want to see and that’s what’s going to sell tickets and that’s what’s going to make money and that’s what’s going to get all of us a better salary. So yes, I think it’s very important for there to be good-looking girls fighting.”
Instead of depending on Gina Carano to be the face of women’s MMA, she said, the sports needs “a couple of girls that are very skilled and decent-looking and we wouldn’t be in a position where, if one girl goes off to do movies, then the whole sport itself is screwed.”
It might not be exactly what every fight fan wants to hear, but then, that’s sort of the point. If by speaking her mind, Rousey then makes herself more of a subject of conversation, she seems fine with that.
And while she wouldn’t name her next opponent aside from hinting that it would be “an interesting fight,” she does have some plans for her fighting future.
“In the perfect world, after this contract was over I’d like to fight Gina Carano and then I’d like to fight Cris “Cyborg” [Santos].”
At least there’s one thing Rousey will never be accused of, and that’s setting her sights too low.
She doesn’t mind controversy in general, really. Something has to bring attention to women’s MMA and, at least the way Rousey sees it, all the fighters trying to out-nice each other isn’t going to do it.
“My goal is not the be the most liked girl in women’s MMA,” Rousey told Ariel Helwani on Tuesday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I want to be the most talked about girl in women’s MMA. If there’s a lot of controversy, people saying I suck, I’m cocky, or it was a good fight or an amazing move — as long as there’s polarizing opinions and people want to discuss it.”
Rousey, who won an Olympic bronze medal in women’s judo in the 2008 Beijing games, improved her MMA record to 3-0 with a first-round armbar victory over D’Alelio on August 12. Referee Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage at the 25-second mark of the bout drew immediate criticism, as D’Alelio clearly didn’t tap to the submission.
After the bout, D’Alelio admitted that she’d made some verbal indication of pain when Rousey jumped into the armbar, and that was apparently good enough to bring the bout to a halt.
“I think the referee was right to stop the fight,” Rousey said. “They tell you the second that you walk in, like right before you walk in, they tell you, ‘If you’re in a submission, anything verbal, like if you yell or scream or anything like that we’ll call the fight.’ So she was very aware that that was the case. It’s not like she didn’t know that that was the rule or something like that, because they literally tell you right before you walk out.”
In case you couldn’t tell, Rousey isn’t one to hold her tongue, nor is she aiming to be the Ms. Congeniality of the women’s MMA world. She had enough of that on the U.S. Olympic judo squad, she said, and she doesn’t think it helps raise her profile or that of the sport to do it now.
“When I was in the Olympics and I was representing the United States I had to be very proper, like, yes, this is the right thing to say and I won’t say anything about how I think [George] Bush is a retard,” Rousey said. “I’m just going to go say what they want me to say and look bright and shiny and go win.
“But doing MMA, you’re representing yourself. You’re not representing your country. I feel like what women’s MMA needs is not some nice girl. Everyone’s playing the nice card and they’re not willing to go under any kind of criticism and I really feel that that’s not what we need if we want to get as much exposure as possible. We need someone more like a Tito Ortiz-type personality — not that I’m trying to be that much of a d–k, no offense to Tito. But I want to be one of those people who people either love then or hate them and groups of people actually have heated discussions about it. I want there to be attention on the sport, and if I have to attract some bad attention to get that, then fine I’ll be willing to be that person.”
Not that Rousey is exactly new to being a bit of a renegade, she admitted. Like most male fighters, she did her share of fighting outside of a sporting context, even if it only brought her trouble.
“I’ve never gotten away with a fight in my entire life. I even got jumped by a bunch of guys once and I beat them up, and they sued me for assault. Every fight I got into in school, I always got a suspension or community service, and it’s just never been worth it to me. If I could get in a fight without there being legal repercussions, I would be in a fight every single day. I don’t go out to clubs at all, because I know if someone grabs my a– I’ll punch them in the face.”
But now that she’s trying to make a career out of MMA, Rousey isn’t afraid to make herself a lightning rod for criticism, or to use her looks to get attention from fans, even if all her peers might not like it.
“I fought for a long time to get in the Olympics and win an Olympic medal wearing, like, a bathrobe, and I ended up with ten grand and a handshake,” she said. “What do you really want me to do? If it was a perfect world where I could walk in there, just roll out of bed and go in there and make the same money, then fine. But I fought for pride for a long time and ended up with nothing but a box full of medals. If I want to make this a career I have to play up the looks side. The people that criticize it are the people that aren’t in that situation.”
The fact the more attractive female fighters stand to make more money shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Rousey said, even if it’s a topic some in the sport would rather ignore.
“I mean, it’s more entertaining to watch two [attractive] girls wrestling around than two ugly girls wrestling around,” said Rousey. “I’m sorry I had to like, point out the elephant in the room, but that’s the truth. That’s what people want to see and that’s what’s going to sell tickets and that’s what’s going to make money and that’s what’s going to get all of us a better salary. So yes, I think it’s very important for there to be good-looking girls fighting.”
Instead of depending on Gina Carano to be the face of women’s MMA, she said, the sports needs “a couple of girls that are very skilled and decent-looking and we wouldn’t be in a position where, if one girl goes off to do movies, then the whole sport itself is screwed.”
It might not be exactly what every fight fan wants to hear, but then, that’s sort of the point. If by speaking her mind, Rousey then makes herself more of a subject of conversation, she seems fine with that.
And while she wouldn’t name her next opponent aside from hinting that it would be “an interesting fight,” she does have some plans for her fighting future.
“In the perfect world, after this contract was over I’d like to fight Gina Carano and then I’d like to fight Cris “Cyborg” [Santos].”
At least there’s one thing Rousey will never be accused of, and that’s setting her sights too low.
Strikeforce’s 2011 came to a close on Saturday night in San Diego, but the organization will live on in 2012. Whether that’s good news or bad news for the fighters on the roster remains to be seen, but this latest event did seem to be some kind of harbinger of things to come, for better or worse.
The grand 