Tag: WMMA

Exclusive: Confident in Her Skill and Preparation for Tate, Rousey Not Even Entertaining the Notion She Could Lose

By Crooklyn


                                                      (Photo courtesy of Getty/ForzaLLC)

As we wind down this frenetic week of anticipation for arguably the biggest fight in WMMA history, Ronda Rousey is taking a load off and catching some much needed rest. Despite being run down from days that start at 5 a.m. and end well past the hours of normalcy, she is still generous with her time, and graciously granted CagePotato.com another interview, among a seemingly unending stream of Q&A requests ahead of her first MMA title bout Saturday night. The focal point is always the same from one interview to the next: Miesha Tate.

In this latest visit with the former Olympian, “Rowdy” discusses several more topics, including Tate’s striking, and the misconceptions some may have about her ability to go into the later rounds if need be.

By Crooklyn


                                                      (Photo courtesy of Getty/ForzaLLC)

As we wind down this frenetic week of anticipation for arguably the biggest fight in WMMA history, Ronda Rousey is taking a load off and catching some much needed rest. Despite being run down from days that start at 5 a.m. and end well past the hours of normalcy, she is still generous with her time, and graciously granted CagePotato.com another interview, among a seemingly unending stream of Q&A requests ahead of her first MMA title bout Saturday night. The focal point is always the same from one interview to the next: Miesha Tate.

In this latest visit with the former Olympian, “Rowdy” discusses several more topics, including Tate’s striking, and the misconceptions some may have about her ability to go into the later rounds if need be.

Deep Water

“I think it’s just dumb that she assumes that my conditioning wouldn’t be very good. I’m an Olympic athlete, and before that I was a swimmer. I’ve been an athlete since I was six years old. To assume that I would gas out is dumb, and to assume that I have horrible striking is dumb. I think the only way that she can convince herself that she has a chance is to tell herself that everything that she hasn’t seen isn’t there. I think she’s so scared of that first exchange, because I’ve gotten everybody, so far, in that first exchange. I think she’s telling herself that once she gets past that first minute, that she’s safe, but that’s totally not the case.”


(Video courtesy of YouTube/ShoSports)

Tate’s Striking

“Her striking is not the least bit impressive, at all. Just look at their attempt to show any of her highlights. One highlight shows her hitting Marloes Coenen once, and then she loses her and falls against the cage. There’s another one where she tries to kick this one chick, and the other chick throws her. She doesn’t really have any striking to speak of. From what I’ve seen, it’s not impressive. It’s much less impressive than my absent striking that people haven’t seen.”

Strikeforce Marketing of This Fight

“I think it’s been great. I’m really happy with the job that Strikeforce and ZUFFA and Showtime have done. They’ve all done a fabulous job, and I hear that the ads are playing all the time. I think there are so many people that are excited to see this fight. I feel really lucky that they put out this amount of effort for one of my fights.”

Fighting On Emotion

“She’s never had to deal with any up front confrontation like this before. She’s never had to deal with the attention in a fight like this before. She’s never been the main event before, whereas I’ve been at the highest level of sports. I was in the Olympics twice, and I prepared my whole life for that. There’s no way to replicate that amount of pressure. This is a fight that entered my mind a few months ago. We trained and we talked and now we’re going to fight. It’s not like something I was aspiring toward since I was a little girl, and now it’s coming down to one day. It pales in comparison. I’m definitely going to deal with the pressure and the attention much more easily than she is.”

Pressure (or lack thereof) of being a 4 to 1 Favorite

“It’s more pressure to her, because now she knows that pretty much everyone thinks she’s going to lose. Psychologically, that’s got to impact you. She’s already come out and said ‘Oh, if I lose I’m thinking about changing my weight class’ or ‘I think taking the modest approach, it’s easier to lose.’ I don’t even entertain the possibility that I could lose, and she’s already setting herself up to fall.”

Even amid the onset of a much needed nap, the confidence Rousey exudes is almost palpable. She is as cool as a cucumber in this final stretch of the countdown to Saturday, and definitely has her eyes on the prize. When asked, in closing, if she was prepared to be the new face of women’s MMA, should she win. Without missing a beat, and absent of any hesitation, she replied, “I’m prepared for anything. I’m Ronda Freakin’ Rousey.”

Follow Ronda via her Twitter @RondaRousey.

7 Reasons Ronda Rousey Will Become the Face of WMMA

The sport of Mixed Martial Arts has been exploding all over the world for the last decade. However, as with other professional sports, the women’s division has not gained as much momentum. Gina Carano was the first real big name of the sport, and…

The sport of Mixed Martial Arts has been exploding all over the world for the last decade. However, as with other professional sports, the women’s division has not gained as much momentum. Gina Carano was the first real big name of the sport, and it was perceived that she would be instrumental in launching WMMA […]

Why Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Is the Greatest WMMA Fighter of All Time

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos entered Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal as one of the greatest women mixed martial artists of all time. Leading up to her highly anticipated bout with Hiroko Yamanaka, Santos brought in a 10-1 career record with…

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos entered Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal as one of the greatest women mixed martial artists of all time. Leading up to her highly anticipated bout with Hiroko Yamanaka, Santos brought in a 10-1 career record with her only defeat coming in the first fight of her MMA career. Santos looked to remain unbeaten […]

UFC Betting

Why Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Is the Greatest WMMA Fighter of All Time

CP Interview: Jessica Aguilar Wants the Best — and It Ain’t the Champ

“My regular training schedule was interrupted briefly after I broke a bone and had it pinned for faster and stronger healing – but now I am right back at full speed, 100% healthy, working like an animal, loving every minute and can feel that my training performance has clearly reached a new career high for me – I am really pumped and ready to go!!” -Jessica Aguilar, on training         PicProps: Tom Hill

When you look into Jessica Aguilar’s training regimen, you know that you’re dealing with a dedicated athlete.  Her typical schedule is brutal.  Her gym, American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, is home to elite fighters.  Her “personal time” — a couple of hours carved out of the afternoon — are usually spent working, to supplement a fighting income that doesn’t always square with having the best equipment, or a registered dietitian on call, or a hyperbaric chamber in your back yard.

Not that you’ll hear her complain.  Aguilar gets by the with help of her sponsors, and she’s quick to point it out.  But unlike the usual ham-handed attempts by fighters to plug companies that send them checks, Aguilar comes across as genuinely appreciative of the people and companies who have supported her through lean times.  Talk to her for five minutes, and you realize that the positivity and tenacity aren’t marketing points, they’re deeply ingrained character traits.  That attitude, the relentless optimism, the rugged determination, have served Aguilar well in her six year career.

Join us after the jump for all of CP’s exclusive interview with Jessica.

“My regular training schedule was interrupted briefly after I broke a bone and had it pinned for faster and stronger healing – but now I am right back at full speed, 100% healthy, working like an animal, loving every minute and can feel that my training performance has clearly reached a new career high for me – I am really pumped and ready to go!!” -Jessica Aguilar, on training          PicProps: Tom Hill

When you look into Jessica Aguilar’s training regimen, you know that you’re dealing with a dedicated athlete.  Her typical schedule is brutal.  Her gym, American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, is home to elite fighters.  Her “personal time” — a couple of hours carved out of the afternoon — are usually spent working, to supplement a fighting income that doesn’t always square with having the best equipment, or a registered dietitian on call, or a hyperbaric chamber in your back yard.

Not that you’ll hear her complain.  Aguilar gets by the with help of her sponsors, and she’s quick to point it out.  But unlike the usual ham-handed attempts by fighters to plug companies that send them checks, Aguilar comes across as genuinely appreciative of the people and companies who have supported her through lean times.  Talk to her for five minutes, and you realize that the positivity and tenacity aren’t marketing points, they’re deeply ingrained character traits.  That attitude, the relentless optimism, the rugged determination, have served Aguilar well in her six year career.

Jessica Aguilar never meant to start a career in MMA. A life-long athlete, a twenty-three year old Aguilar had just moved from Texas to Florida. The story goes that she started training BJJ on a whim after showing up late for her aerobics class one day, and it clicked from day one.

She was a quick study, and her instructors threw her into a NAGA grappling tournament two months after she started rolling.  Not long after that, she was approached by a promoter at an amateur competition, asking if she’d take a pro fight. Aguilar, completely ignorant of what she was getting herself into (and expecting to lay down an entrance fee), agreed to take the fight by asking, “Sure, I’ll compete, how much do I pay?”

Aguilar got paid for that first fight she took with almost no training and less experience, and she caught a loss to Lisa Ward. Ward was then, and still is, a top five fighter in the women’s 115 pound division.

Aguilar went on to assemble an 8-3 record before being invited to take part in Bellator’s inaugural women’s tournament. She scored a business-like arm triangle choke on Lynn Alvarez in the first round, moving her ahead in the tournament to fight Zoila Frausto.  Frausto won the decision, but this is what the competitors looked like afterwards.  Jessica Aguilar, unscratched, smiled and applauded graciously when the decision was announced.

Jag returned quickly to the cage, picking up a submission win over Elsie Henri less than two months after her screw job loss, then a decision win over powerful wrestler Carla Esparza.

A Frausto rematch was planned, then scrapped, when Jag’s recovery from surgery wasn’t proceeding  properly.  Another opportunity presented itself in the form of another old loss: Lisa Ward.  She’s Lisa Ward-Ellis now, but she’s still the same fighter:  a top-ranked contender in the weight class with a win over Aguilar back in February 2006.  Jag wants to erase that loss, but what she really wants is a shot at the best female fighter in her weight class.  Thing is, the current Bellator women’s champ isn’t who she’s talking about:  Jag has her sights set on Megumi Fujii.

Ask the Potato: Back Pain, WMMA and More


Right Leg: Yukon Gold. Left Leg: Jersey Royal

Another Saturday afternoon is upon us, which means it’s time for another edition of Ask the Potato. After last week graced us with the presence of a few minor celebrities, we knew what we had to do now that minor celebrities care about what we write. But until Coolio stops ducking us, we’ll just stick to answering your questions. So let’s get started, shall we?

intercept440 Says: what is the best remedy for lower back pain? So far the only thing that seems to work is copious amounts of booze. Come on potato, surely with your vast amounts of knowledge you can help a nation member out.


Right Leg: Yukon Gold. Left Leg: Jersey Royal

Another Saturday afternoon is upon us, which means it’s time for another edition of Ask the Potato. After last week graced us with the presence of a few minor celebrities, we knew what we had to do now that minor celebrities care about what we write. But until Coolio stops ducking us, we’ll just stick to answering your questions. So let’s get started, shall we?

intercept440 Says: what is the best remedy for lower back pain?   So far the only thing that seems to work is copious amounts of booze. Come on potato, surely with your vast amounts of knowledge you can help a nation member out.

You’ve been good to us over the years, intercept440, so we’re going to do you a solid. Email us your address and we’ll send the Cage Potato office chiropractor right over. Trust us when we tell you that he’s the best in the business. In fact, Leonard Garcia swears by him.

Liverpunch Says:
1- What do you think is a probable timetable for the demise of women’s MMA. I like the fights, but I just don’t see them gaining any traction with the public.
2- Where do you see MMA a year from now? Is CP still around in this hellish futurescape?

1) We don’t think women’s MMA is going anywhere, Liverpunch. By that we mean it won’t die out, but we also sadly mean that it’s not going anywhere. Once Strikeforce folds, another organization will become the home of WMMA. Bellator has stated that they’d proudly carry the torch, while smaller promotions like Black Eye have already started scooping up talent. Unfortunately, the UFC is where the fame and money’s at, and without those lures it will be difficult to convince more women to train full time and invest themselves in the sport.

2) As long as things continue to go smoothly tonight, we think the sport’s only going to improve. But if some unforeseen disaster strikes and the sport spirals out of control into some post-apocalyptic hellhole, we’ll be right there playing the role of “Mr. Dealgood”.

XENOPHON Says:  At that time I will ask, “How does one get an invite to tour the Cage Potato offices in mid-Wilshire?”
 
Silly XENOPHON, when will you learn? Cage Potato exists not in bricks and mortar, but in the hearts and souls of every MMA fan who has ever mocked an ugly t-shirt, had a crush on a ring girl, and genuinely appreciated a good ol’ fashioned freak show fight. In other words, to look inside of Cage Potato, all you must do is look inside of yourself.

KarmaAteMyCat Says: What is the difference between quitting and not being able to continue an intelligent fight whilst defending one’s self specifically when commentators admit the fight should be stopped?

Normally, we’d tell you to ask the doctors who sit at cage side and the referees overlooking the fight to help you. After all, they are there because they have the training and competence to be able to tell the difference between a fighter who is simply disinterested in fighting and a fighter who is physically unable to continue. But if UFC 138 was any indication, sometimes their judgment isn’t much better than ours.

We know UFC 138 wasn’t the first time a fighter who should not have been allowed to continue to fight was asked by officials if he wanted to continue, said yes and then was allowed to continue. But it still confuses us every time we see it happen. If you’re going to pause the fight because you believe that it is dangerous for a person to continue taking damage, perhaps you should do more than just ask if the professional fighter whose job depends on his or her ability to keep fighting wants to keep fighting.   

1Jackal Says: Since Cain Velasquez is the UFC champ and is making a bunch of money then why is his father still doing physical labor by working in the fields? Please explain.

Back up, 1Jackal. Champions making a bunch of money? We don’t know what crazy, ass-backwards universe you live in, but since Nick Diaz doesn’t live there, we don’t ever want to visit it.

That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week as we answer even more of your (hopefully at least kind of) MMA related questions. You know the drill: You can send us questions through our Facebook page. You can tweet them to our Twitter account, as well as hashtag questions with #AskThePotato. You can register for our forums and post your questions there. Or you can just post them in the comments section of this article. It’s all the same to us.