the UFC thread

[Shea]

Hell Weidman beat Silva by KO and didn't get the kind of attention that Rousey has for beating the likes of Meisha Tate. I think there's a bit of sexism towards Ronda because of the way she looks. On the other side you have a very humble composed new champion in Holly Holm who has incredible work ethic and discipline. Maybe if she was this super hot chick she would get all the attention. She's 10-0 now and if Ronda can't take her down in the rematch we could be looking at a new dominant champion in the Womens bantamweight division.

The money and marketability comes from being able to grab the attention of the casual fan

Ronda grabbed it via her looks and persona, Connor McGregor with his mouth, Brock Lesnar with his WWE fame etc etc

The UFC can obviously recognise marketability in a fighter and do what they can to optimise it as it benefits them directly to do so (seeing as the fighters are all on central contracts signed to the company)

Same goes for other sports - Anna Kournikova being a prime example from tennis (although of course the marketing people are more third party I guess)

Unfortunately it's not just about ability and performance. Sure the hardcore fans of any sport will respect and appreciate that above and beyond any other factor but the causal wider market will be drawn in by hype and marketability created by looks, personality etc and there will always be marketing people who will seek to maximise that I think

 

[rabbikeane]

Marketing of female MMA took a hit when Gina Cerano got taken out by that Cyborg man. They waited a long time to find her replacement in Rousey.

 

[mil1lion]

I'm sure Rousey will be determined to retain the belt. To be fair to Dana White they haven't tried to protect her, they've thrown her in with the best in the division. I just think she has overestimated her stand up skills and paid for it.

Paige Vanzant is another who has a lot of early hype about her but still only 21 years old. She too fights a risky stand up style. There's still improving needed in the stand up for women's MMA. Joanna Jedrzejczyk looked really impressive in her fight though.

 

[mk_spur]

Hate to follow the increasing crowd on mma forums but i am glad she (ronda) got a huge slice of humble pie. The hype around a fighter so limited in her all round ability in a weak division has been nauseating to say the least. Added to Rousey's egotistical behaviour this is exactly what was needed. Her coach Edmund is an opportunistic chancer and his abilities to coach elite mma fighters should and i think will be brought into question. His instructions between round 1 and round 2 of this fight were comical and he surely is delusional or severely under educated in the art of strategy. He lucked out with Rousey now he will be dumped with no where to go and seemingly going bankrupt as well. Well done Holly Holm for bringing some realism back into the female divisions and for absolutely schooling the egotistical brat that is now the former champ. Still Ronda has her movies and millions so no one should feel too sorry for her she will be ok and perhaps this defeat may make her a nicer person to boot.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

Rousey has taken her eye off the ball, with the WWE involvement as well as movies and so on.
Completely lost focus on what really mattered.
I do think she will make the switch to WWE within a year, whether that's a good or bad move is subject to opinion.

She has been made to look an idiot now in terms of her comments about fighting Mayweather and some of her other opinions.
Let's just hope it makes her take a humility check.

 

[ajspurs]

Rousey has taken her eye off the ball, with the WWE involvement as well as movies and so on.
Completely lost focus on what really mattered.
I do think she will make the switch to WWE within a year, whether that's a good or bad move is subject to opinion.

She has been made to look an idiot now in terms of her comments about fighting Mayweather and some of her other opinions.
Let's just hope it makes her take a humility check.

I agree but even so, her tactics in the fight were just awful, she was made to look really amateur to be honest, chasing after someone whilst getting tagged every time. The moment when she was lunging and missed a strike, falling on one knee whilst Holm's was skipping away really summed up the fight for her, sloppy.

 

[teok]

 

[Mullers]

Taz reckons the Rousey fight was fixed.

Former, WWE, ECW and TNA star Taz said on his radio show that the fight between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm at UFC 193 was fixed. He went into detail on his theory, saying UFC president Dana White used an age-old wrestling business strategy.

“Why are some people not seeing this? This has been done in the wrestling industry for years," said Taz. "A guy or girl is going to take a break or go away, or has an injury that they have to tend to, whatever the reasons are, and they’re a champion – you take the championship off of them. You do not want your champion sitting home or making a movie, ‘Roadhouse 2? or whatever Rousey’s going to do, or whatever Rousey’s going to do, or just needs a personal break, which she’s earned. This girl’s earned it. But you don’t want that person sitting home for five, six, seven months with that championship. IT’S BAD FOR BUSINESS! TAKE THE BELT OFF HER!”

“If you look at the actual K.O. – now, she did get nailed, Rousey, with several shots before the finish of the fight. Nothing that was like ‘oh my god,’ but she got popped a few times. But if you look at the actual knockout, as Rousey, she went for kind of a lazy punch or something – not lazy but she kind of missed – and as she spun to turn around her back was kind of turned to Holm. And as she slowly turned, a high round kick, I believe it was the left foot, or left leg of Holm, catches Rousey, drops Rousey, and then Holm grounds and pounds for three shots – boom, boom, boom. Ref gets in the middle, fight’s over, new champion Holly Holm.”

“I’m telling you right now, that whole series, was the work. And I’m not sure who was in on it and who wasn’t but I know this much: the ref probably wasn’t in on it. Maybe he was I don’t know. Rousey was in on it – and again, this is all my opinion. Holm might not have been in on it.”

http://rajah.com/node/49779

 

[Mullers]

I'd hardly call that breaking down into tears.

 

[Bofbro]

Taz reckons the Rousey fight was fixed.


http://rajah.com/node/49779

Lol, what an idiot

 

[mil1lion]

Yeah I'm sure Rousey agreed to get knocked out in brutal fashion. She fought the same way she always fights. Only this time she fought an elite striker and paid for it. She has never been technical on the feet. In her rematch with Tate she still took some blows on the feet, she just has the core strength to take a lot of these women to the ground and submit them. She learned that she can't bully Holly Holm and we'll see what adjustments she makes. I have no doubt she'll end up making movies but she's still competitive and she will want to beat Holm first.

If she had won that fight it may have been her last but she didn't lose on purpose. She wanted to remain unbeaten. The trouble she has is that after Holly Holm that's it. There is no higher level to aim for, no higher weight class to aim for. The womens division is still growing and it will likely still be a few more years before the division is fully competitive. I don't think she would wait and continue fighting lesser opponents until then. There is one fight I think she would have taken and that would be Cyborg. Other than that it's just rematches with people she has already beaten.

I think she'll get in instant rematch. If she wins that they bring in Cyborg and that will be her last fight before Hollywood.

 

[dontcallme]

Lol, what an idiot

Yeah, I think if she wanted to take a break, she'd do just that. She wouldn't get knocked spark out.

 

[fatpiranha]

Rousey believed her own hype and paid the price. She'll easily win the rematch by going back to what she does best and dragging Holm to the ground and armbarring her. She can't be so stupid as to try to strike with Holm again.

 

[Mullers]

Even if she wins the rematch she will always have that loss, I think for the moment that will taint her legacy. I think she needs to come through a couple of wars or show her superior ability to get that respect back much the same as Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammed Ali did.

 

[Bofbro]

Rousey believed her own hype and paid the price. She'll easily win the rematch by going back to what she does best and dragging Holm to the ground and armbarring her. She can't be so stupid as to try to strike with Holm again.

She never looked like she had anything for Holly, she got smashed on the feet, and even ragdolled at one point. The rematch would be no different IMO.

 

[fatpiranha]

She never looked like she had anything for Holly, she got smashed on the feet, and even ragdolled at one point. The rematch would be no different IMO.

She got smashed because she thought she was a world class striker. Holly showed her she isn't. When Ronda got her to the ground she had already been lit up and that allowed Holm to escape. I think a fresh unhurt Rousey is a different proposition if it goes to the ground in the rematch. Holm isn't in Rousey's class on the ground any more than Rousey is in Holm's class standing.

For the rematch Ronda doesn't need to work on her striking because she is simply never going to be good enough on her feet to stand with Holly. She needs to work on her wrestling and takedowns and keeping a tight defence and cutting off the octagon. At least there will be good odds betting on Rousey in the rematch.

 

[mil1lion]

A nice write up from Kenny Rice here

http://www.axs.tv/sports/kenny-rice-holly-holm-gave-class-in-the-sweet-science-to-rousey-and-mma/

I do think this could start a new lease of life for boxing in MMA. Now that UFC is starting to pull in some big money we could see more young boxers come into the sport. Not boxers who have spent all their careers boxing only to try MMA when they're past their prime.

The footwork of many fighters in MMA is still some way off that of the top boxers in the world. It's something that will improve over time because you still need that awareness for the takedown or even kicks and knees etc. We're seeing a new trend with some young fighter now who are starting to transition footwork and movement into the MMA environment now. I'm looking forward to the TJ Dillashaw vs Dom Cruz fight because they're 2 of the very best for it/

 

[Bofbro]

She clinched Holly within the first minutes and could do shit with her, RR was totally outclassed

 

[teok]

https://the-cauldron.com/the-end-of-an-error-cbac04dc4a98

 

[fatpiranha]

https://the-cauldron.com/the-end-of-an-error-cbac04dc4a98

If there was undue hype behind Rousey this article is at least as bad in the other direction. The reality is that Rousey has lost one fight against another unbeaten fighter who was a stylistic nightmare for her. Credit should go to Holm rather than everyone jumping on a 'bash Ronda' bandwagon. It is possible to have two or more outstanding performers in a weight division simultaneously. Ali, Frasier, Foreman or Leonard, Duran, Hagler, Hearns spring to mind. Any one of those could have retired undefeated and been declared the greatest of all time if they hadn't had to share an era with the others.

Rousey hasn't suddenly become an overhyped average fighter overnight any more than Tyson when he lost to Douglas, Ali when he lost to Spinks or Lewis when he lost to McCall and Rahman did.