Paige Van Zant is also a good-looking lady who kicks ass. And there's Aleksandra Albu from Russia. The UFC/Zuffa had just signed her so she could be fighting in the octagon later this year.
If it were up to me, I'd say move her up to Men's bantamweight. She can go the distance and bang but I don't think she can win. No female fighter can beat her right now.
Rousey is a world class Olympic athlete where most of the other girls she fights are just tough girls that picked up fighting later in life. It's just not fair. This happened when the Olympic wrestlers like Coleman, Kerr and Randle entered MMA. They dominated until other world class athletes started doing MMA.
I'm glad Ronda Rousey is bringing a lot of attention to Judo and I don't fault her at all for capitalizing on sex appeal. I really hope though that looks don't end up playing part of the standard for excellence for female fighters. J
Even the worst men fighter would beat her up. I am sure some one like cyborg would have a chance. Not that I have seen any womens ufc.
I've never trained with Ronda Rousey but have had the opportunity to train with her mother Anne Marie a couple of times. She could certainly handle some men in Judo and I suspect Ronda could too. When Ronda fought in the Olympics she fought at a heavier weight and has dealt with heavier opponents. While men certainly have much more upper body strength and would pack more punching power there are many techniques in grappling that can greatly neutralize the strength advantage. While I doubt Ronda could defeat UFC level MMA fighters I bet she could beat a lot of gym level bantam weight men. In Judo wearing gi I would give her even a greater edge where she could probably beat a fair amount of 60KG men even at the black level.
Not all of it, but definitely part of it. I don't think the type of female who can train this intently has trouble channeling that energy into maintaining her looks, and I don't know that aesthetic standards of prospective male fans are as stringent here as in other arenas, the muscularity is probably part of a draw for some. Add to the fact that female combat sports have always been tough to market: all the best female martial artist/kickboxers 20-25 years ago like Rijker and Baby Doll Riley eventually went into boxing just to make some cash.
With all due respect I disagree highly. The worst male fighters would beat her up?? Dude, she doesn't train against women she trains against guys. She has better Judo and a better ground game and submission skills than a significant percentage of guys in the UFC. All that would need to happen is for her to take one of them to the ground, especially one that didn't wrestle in college or at a high level and it would be over. She would submit that male fighter whether she's on the top or bottom. I'd take her over the worst male fighters in every division under 205.
Exactly. Completely agree w/the part in bold. I think she could defeat UFC level MMA fighters that don't have solid wrestling skills or bjj backgrounds. The ones that just want to brawl, she would finish. She wouldn't stand there trying to box with them, she'd go to the ground with them and it would be done quickly.
It's certainly in the realm of possibility that Ronda could defeat UFC level men but I think given the amount of training those guys go through it would be very tall order. The days of pure brawlers are also pretty much gone and almost all UFC fighters have a decent amount of grappling training. While Ronda would have a very distinct technical edge she would be facing opponents who aren't slouches in grappling but already have a built in strength advantage. Also while Ronda has greatly improved her striking skills the strength and reach advantages form men would be greatly magnified in striking. It's one thing to put up with taking punches from other women but another from men who are going to pack much more PSI per punch. While Ronda might be able to neutralize strength when getting in close she would be much more vulnerable to getting knocked out from a man with good striking skills. Ronda might not have the chance to take a guy like that down.
The problem is that unless ronda could compete with the STARS in the men's division, it really wouldn't make promotional/marketing sense to put heree in with the men. I actually think that fighting men would tarnish her brand rather than help it.
You might be right but that is unfortunate. The best American Judoka, both male and female, is Kayla Harrison. She is the first American to win an Olympic Gold in Judo and favored to repeat again. That said she probably isn't going to make any thread about "Women that Clutchfans love" She is a better Judoka than Ronda Rousey and frankly a better person but I get the feeling she won't get the same amount of fame that Ronda will just because she probably never will have the same amount of sex appeal that Ronda has. Also keep in mind as an Olympian Ronda Rousey didn't look like she does now. She's clearly worked both on developing the MMA fighting style along with her looks. If Ronda had just stuck to being a great fighter I don't think she would nearly be as famous now. Like I said I don't begrudge or blame her for doing that I just think this is more of a commentary about our culture than about her.
You're probably right too. While I think there are a lot of men she could beat against upper echelon MMA men is going to be very very difficult. I doubt that the Rousey's promoters, the men involved or even UFC would want the spectacle of Rousey fighting top Bantamweight men like Faber or Dillashaw. It's going to be embarrassing for someone no matter what.
I am talking about worst male in in terms of UFC fighter not some random guy off the street. I hope they do it just to see what happens.
That's what I was talking about as well. I doubt they do it. She still has a couple of ladies out there to get in the octagon with.
