Tag: Ronda Rousey

Kathy Long: Ronda Rousey ‘Stands a Good Chance’ vs. UFC Bantamweight Men

Ronda Rousey is widely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in women’s MMA, but how would she fare in the men’s division?Five-time kickboxing world champion Kathy Long believes Rousey could not only compete, but she thinks the Strikeforce women’s…

Ronda Rousey is widely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in women’s MMA, but how would she fare in the men’s division?

Five-time kickboxing world champion Kathy Long believes Rousey could not only compete, but she thinks the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ would stand a good chance against UFC bantamweight men.

“I think if anybody’s willing to go in and continue to train with men, they stand a good chance when fighting against men,” Long said on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani. “When I was boxing as an amateur a long time ago, I only had males to fight against, and I won [against] all of them. So I think [Rousey] stands a good chance.”

Rousey is noted for having trained with the Diaz brothers and Manny Gamburyan.

Still, there is something to be said about training and an actual fight. It’s hard to envision Rousey or any woman taking damage from Renan Barao, Dominick Cruz or Urijah Faber. The overall physical makeup between men and women is different.

At 135-pounds, every UFC fighter in the bantamweight division would have a strength and speed advantage over Rousey.

Luckily, MMA isn’t just about speed and strength. The most important aspect of fighting lies in technique, and Rousey‘s Olympic level Judo and ever-improving Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills give her a chance against all opposition, regardless of sex.

Long continues in her interview with Helwani:

“You know, all of my sparring partners were, and always have been, men, who are bigger, stronger and heavier than me. Because of that, I’ve learned to hit very, very hard, because I’ve had to. They were willing to beat the crap out of me, literally, and that’s what made me who I am. That’s how I got five world titles, because of all of my sparring partners. Did I hurt them? Yes. Did they hurt me? Yes.”

It’s a real possibility Rousey could beat amateur bantamweights and possibly even some lower-end pros.

As for UFC fighters, it would be tough for her to overcome the physical advantages held over her by some of the best fighters in the world.

Rousey is still one fighter you should never count out.

One mistake is all it would take to be the first man subbed and embarrassed in the Octagon with a first-round armbar.

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UFC Should Move On with Rousey vs. Tate Rematch, Cut Cheating Cris Cyborg Loose

No one should have any sympathy for Cris “Cyborg” Justino.From violently demolishing over-matched opponents to years of suspected drug use, the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion has dug her own grave.Quite frankly, it’s disgusting that …

No one should have any sympathy for Cris “Cyborg” Justino.

From violently demolishing over-matched opponents to years of suspected drug use, the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion has dug her own grave.

Quite frankly, it’s disgusting that the UFC is even entertaining the idea of signing Cyborg to a catchweight superfight with Ronda Rousey. Once again, Dana White is chasing the biggest payoff possible while not considering the long term.

Despite the fact that Rousey has only been in the MMA game for little more than two years, the Olympic bronze medalist has almost undone all the damage caused to the women’s division by Cyborg’s lengthy reign.

By that token alone, the burden should be on Cyborg to cut down to 135 pounds, not for Rousey to meet her in the middle.

Oh, but it gets better—Cyborg’s excuses for not wanting (or being able) to cut weight are as varied as they are convenient.

Rousey’s just scared she’ll get beaten up. Cyborg’s frame is naturally too big to safely trim down. Ronda’s been dominant at 145 pounds before. A paltry 10 pounds shouldn’t be such a big deal.

And most recently, Cyborg’s newest angle is that the weight cut could potentially damage her ability to give birth, according to the latest word from MMA Weekly. Justino still wants to have a child one day, so the UFC and athletic commissions should relent and let her fight at “Cyborgweight.”

Well, that’s too bad.

Like it or not, Cyborg’s case would be more understandable if she wasn’t a doppelganger for Lou Ferrigno’s thumb. But Justino dug her own grave the minute she tested positive for anabolic steroids and subsequently got herself suspended.

That throws her whole career into question, especially her build and figure. For years, Cyborg’s strength was much like the Alistair Overeem situation, where people suspected steroid use but couldn’t say anything for sure.

Given the utter savagery she’s displayed against the likes of Jan Finney and Hiroko Yamanaka, it’s reasonable to assume that Cyborg’s drug use extends beyond the training camp for her last fight, and as a result, she almost killed the featherweight division and ruined women’s MMA.

With that kind of history behind her, Cyborg’s worries about damaging her body should not be some kind of excuse to force Rousey to move up. If anything, Cyborg’s career should be over due to her inability to move between weight divisions.

After all, just what kind of precedent does it set for Cyborg to get her way?

Miesha Tate is right when she says that her rival isn’t single-handedly responsible for bringing women’s MMA to the UFC. It’s really a combination of Rousey’s star power, Invicta FC’s niche success and Strikeforce’s dedication to female fighters, even when there weren’t many matches to make.

If Cyborg wants to go home and be a family woman, she should be free to do so.

Let her leave.

She’ll be easily forgotten.

Besides, you have to admit that the irony here is staggeringly poignant. Cyborg actively smashed the 145-pound division until Gina Carano left and there were no viable stars.

As a direct result, the UFC might focus solely on bantamweight, leaving Justino in the cold.

Instead of cashing in on a superfight that pits a rising star against a known steroid abuser, the UFC can actually go the extra mile and build up a few challengers. Sign worldwide talent. You know, basic stuff. Do a little extra legwork, Joe Silva.

Rousey’s star will rise without Cyborg, especially if the UFC does something as bold as an all-women’s season of TUF with Tate as a coach. Cyborg isn’t worth the trouble, and the UFC shouldn’t pander to the Brazilian Bomber.

[McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.]

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Chael Sonnen: Rampage Can’t Beat Ronda Rousey

Chael Sonnen believes that even Ronda Rousey would beat Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at this point in his career.In an interview with TMZ, Sonnen congratulated Rousey on being the first woman to ever sign a UFC contract, but the interview couldn’t be comp…

Chael Sonnen believes that even Ronda Rousey would beat Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at this point in his career.

In an interview with TMZ, Sonnen congratulated Rousey on being the first woman to ever sign a UFC contract, but the interview couldn’t be complete without the self-proclaimed “Oregon Gangster” taking a verbal swipe at his old pal Rampage.

“I’d like to congratulate Ronda Rousey on becoming a pioneer in the sport. It’s well-deserved and overdue,” said Sonnen. “Looks like Mitt Romney has a new favorite fighter and Rampage Jackson has another opponent he can’t beat.”

The back-and-forth jawing between Sonnen and Rampage has been going on for several weeks.

During an appearance on “Inside MMA,” Rampage said Sonnen “sucks” and talks unnecessary trash.

Sonnen has shown a knack for getting under people’s skin. During his historic feud with Anderson Silva, he had the entire country of Brazil in an uproar over some of the controversial comments he made in the media.

Nothing is off-limits for Sonnen when it comes to putting together another clever punchline.

Rampage admits that he is guilty of engaging in a little trash talk as well, but he believes Sonnen tends to overstep boundaries.

During that appearance, the former light heavyweight champ explained:

“I talk trash, but the thing is, I talk trash about people I’m actually going to fight, who are actually in my weight class. This guy talks trash about ring girls, about people that are not even in his weight class. He talks trash about the President. Now, that’s a little bit too much. It’s very disrespectful.”

With Sonnen moving up to the light heavyweight division, there is hope that the UFC could one day put this grudge match together.

As of now, the chances seem slim at best.

While Sonnen gets a crack at UFC champ Jon Jones in April, Rampage is expected to face Glover Teixeira in January in what could be his final fight in the UFC. 

Unless a new deal is made, the only punches these two light heavyweight stars throw at one another will be verbal.

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UFC News: Ronda Rousey’s Manager Says She Has Not Joined the UFC

“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, the reigning Strikeforce bantamweight champion, is yet to sign a contract to the UFC. Her manager said as much in an interview with Sports Illustrated on Friday. “Right now, nothing has changed,” said Darin Harvey of Fight Tr…

“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, the reigning Strikeforce bantamweight champion, is yet to sign a contract to the UFC. Her manager said as much in an interview with Sports Illustrated on Friday. 

“Right now, nothing has changed,” said Darin Harvey of Fight Tribe (Rousey‘s manager), regarding her current Strikeforce contract. 

He also told Sports Illustrated that Rousey was en route to a weekend appearance in Las Vegas to fly with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force demonstration squadron, not to sign a deal with the UFC. 

Media gossip website TMZ.com was the first media outlet to report that Rousey had signed with the UFC Thursday evening. 

The report was very plausible given the fact that Strikeforce had announced that their card in January will be their last.

Reigning champions Gilbert Melendez, Nate Marquardt and Luke Rockhold will defend their titles on the card and Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier is scheduled to fight at the event as well.

The latest news regarding Rousey in the UFC is particularly puzzling given the fact that Miesha Tate, the opponent Rousey won the belt from in March, tweeted she had also signed a contract with the UFC Thursday night. 

“So Stoked to be fighting for the  it’s been a dream of mine for along time! SO happy it’s finally come true :-D,” Tate said on her Twitter page. 

Rousey, who has won all six of her professional MMA fights via an armbar in the first round, most recently submitted Sarah Kaufman in just 54 seconds in her August title defense.

UFC president Dana White has been a long-time supporter of Rousey, but is yet to comment about about whether or not she is now officially a part of the world’s premiere MMA organization. 

Rousey is also yet to comment on whether or not she has indeed inked a deal with the UFC.

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Hold the Phone: Ronda Rousey’s Manager Refutes Alleged UFC Signing


(“Woah woah, Ronda, slow down. You can’t just waltz in off the street and demand to be in our crew. Fact is, you can’t join until you go through initiation.”) 

As us bloggers are apt to do when a pretty girl walks into the room, it looks like we may have prematurely shot our wad when we broke the historic news that Ronda Rousey had become the first woman to ever sign with the UFC. That’s correct, you’ve now read two semen-related puns in a row. And it’s only Monday. Anyway, Rousey’s manager recently spoke with ESPN to refute the claims:

“Right now, nothing has changed,” says Darin Harvey of Fight Tribe, noting that Rousey is in Las Vegas to fly with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force demonstration squadron, and not to sign a UFC contract.


(“Woah woah, Ronda, slow down. You can’t just waltz in off the street and demand to be in our crew. Fact is, you can’t join until you go through initiation.”) 

As us bloggers are apt to do when a pretty girl walks into the room, it looks like we may have prematurely shot our wad when we broke the historic news that Ronda Rousey had become the first woman to ever sign with the UFC. That’s correct, you’ve now read two semen-related puns in a row. And it’s only Monday. Anyway, Rousey’s manager recently spoke with ESPN to refute the claims:

“Right now, nothing has changed,” says Darin Harvey of Fight Tribe, noting that Rousey is in Las Vegas to fly with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force demonstration squadron, and not to sign a UFC contract.

While reports still indicate that Strikeforce will in fact be folding after their January 12th event, this is undeniably an interesting turn of events in the case of the supposed first UFC women’s champ. Although it did seem a little out of the blue when the news broke in the first place, you have to wonder if perhaps the UFC was hoping to keep things quiet until they made a formal announcement at a future event and simply let things slip through the cracks.

Adding to the confusion, Miesha Tate also announced via Twitter that she had joined the UFC, but then again, Tate also refuted the claims that she was hosting web chats with her fans, then immediately tweeted that she was in fact hosting web chats with her fans. Combine all that with DW’s well known history of tomfoolery and you’ll find yourself between a rock and a hard place, which is where this story currently lies.

But if I could take off my blogger suspenders and put on my conspiracy theorist tacktleneck for a moment, I would suggest that we should possibly watch UFC 154 with vested interest for an announcement of this magnitude. Dana White has yet to refute or confirm the rumors, and somehow managed to come off as both smug and coy by texting only an emoticon on his Twitter when the news broke. And as well all know, silent Dana is the most unpredictable Dana, so expect a major announcement on the horizon. Until then…Skyfall, anyone?

–J. Jones

Miesha Tate: Ronda Rousey Shouldn’t Get So Much Credit for Women in the UFC

Miesha Tate is grateful that women have finally been accepted into the UFC, but she doesn’t think that Ronda Rousey deserves all the credit she’s getting.Although Rousey is definitely the catalyst, Tate wants people to remember the early pioneers of wo…

Miesha Tate is grateful that women have finally been accepted into the UFC, but she doesn’t think that Ronda Rousey deserves all the credit she’s getting.

Although Rousey is definitely the catalyst, Tate wants people to remember the early pioneers of women’s mixed martial arts, and not just its current most popular star. As far as Tate’s concerned, people are forgetting that Rousey didn’t have much to do with the sport in its infancy.

Tate spoke to MMAWeekly Radio about her stance on Rousey’s spotlight, while also highlighting some of the long-time female fighters who’ve been part of MMA for much longer than the current Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion:

“It’s not just Ronda, it’s not just myself, that’s for sure. If Ronda’s coming over to the UFC obviously there’s going to be a division around that, it’s not just Ronda. I know Ronda’s getting a lot of the credit and what not, but she didn’t have a lot to do with from the ground up.”

“We’re at the top of the mountain now. That’s kind of how I feel, anyways. With this accomplishment coming into the UFC, we’ve kind of reached that final goal. But we had to start at the bottom and a lot of the pioneers Tara (LaRosa), Marloes (Coenen), Molly Helsel, the girls that were really fighting back in the day before we were making any kind of money, or there was any kind of publicity, or much acceptance of it.”

Although Tate and many other female MMA fighters have long histories in the sport, Ronda Rousey has arguably accomplished more than her counterparts in just over two years. Since her first amateur bout in August 2010, Rousey has defeated nine women by submission in just one round each, all with her signature armbar.

Despite the fact that Tate eventually fell to Rousey’s patented armbar, she insists that the Olympic silver medalist is far from unbeatable:

“Our rivalry is very real. I know a lot of people don’t believe that Ronda can’t be beaten, that she’s just untouchable, but I beg to differ…If I do get that rematch in the UFC, it’s going to be one hell of a fight.”

Along with winning the Strikeforce bantamweight title, Rousey has gone on to grace the cover of ESPN’s 2012 Body Issue, UFC Magazine and various other publications—as well as guest-starring on The Ultimate Fighter. Tate considered a year-long break prior to the news that the UFC would be signing Rousey, along with the announcement of Strikeforce closing after their January fight card.

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