Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

That McMann fight was stopped way too early. Ronda is a great grappler but let's not get carried with her striking like she is Joanna on the feet. I think she's is a much better athlete than her peers.

[Taylor703]

She's fighting females who don't have the background she has, couple that with her athletic ability and it is an similar situation to Gracie. He dominated a bunch of guys who had no clue what MMA was and this is essentially the same thing Ronda is doing. Most of these ladies didn't start until what, their late teens, early twenties?

You'll have more fighters in WMMA like Ronda in about 10 years. There's a lot of little girls getting involved in the sport early now and imagine if you get an Serena Williams-type athlete in WMMA...who would stand a chance? It's a sport that has pretty much just started and that's why the comparison to Gracie is apt.

The only time I will fault Ronda for not moving up to a catch-weight to fight Cyborg is if she announces her retirement and doesn't do it for her final fight at least. Until THAT scenario comes up, it isn't on her to make the match happen. The challenger(s) chase the champions that is how the fight game works.

Hello there, Meisha.

https://instagram.com/p/52vrwiikqU/

Cyborg just tweeted that she's dropping to 135 after her next fight so she can fight Ronda. ****ing finally.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

That McMann fight was stopped way too early. Ronda is a great grappler but let's not get carried with her striking like she is Joanna on the feet. I think she's is a much better athlete than her peers.

I didn't compare her to Joanna, Ankles. Are you kidding me? Joanna's standup game is her bread and butter. I was comparing her to Royce.

McMann fight was stopped early, but McMann was turtled up, that probably would've been it anyway.

Ronda's knees are underrated. She landed a really nice one just before the finish tonight. Same when she fought Alexis Davis.

[Destino]

It's easy to call everyone "cans" after Ronda runs through them like a tape finish line.  The problem is that her competition does have legitimate resumes, experience, and come out of quality gyms.  We've seen them fight other people and look damn good, but Ronda is just that much better. 

 

Spider Silva was literally laughing at his competition in the ring, and no one was saying that without a super fight he could never claim to be one of the very best.  While he ruled his weight class he was considered amazing, Ronda should get the same consideration.  She's dominant. 

 

Remember she's dominating despite the distractions.  How many in her weight class are doing movies, commercials, photo shoots, guest appearances, and interviews constantly?  How many in all of MMA are dealing with that, plus training?  It's not easy to stay hungry when the money and attention are this high.  She's still crushing people in round one, and she's adding to her game.  Ronda is a force of nature right now and no matter what else happens what she's accomplished is significant and historic. 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

I didn't compare her to Joanna, Ankles. Are you kidding me? Joanna's standup game is her bread and butter. I was comparing her to Royce.

McMann fight was stopped early, but McMann was turtled up, that probably would've been it anyway.

Ronda's knees are underrated. She landed a really nice one just before the finish tonight. Same when she fought Alexis Davis.

It was to the these women are skilled comment. I think she is the best grappler and a much better athlete than everyone else. Her striking isn't what I would call good. Correia opponents were 1-7, not going to call her a can but the division is super thin.

[NoCalMike]

Rousey's striking is still very raw, her strikes themselves though may be underrated, but you do see that whenever Ronda does stand and trade she usually ends up red and a little puffed up. Basically she doesn't have much defense against striking, although tonight she sort of looked uninterested in going backwards no matter what.  It's not that her striking is uber-impressive, it's the fact that she is finding ways to win that aren't considered her bread & butter.  She is putting herself out there and challenging herself to be more than just a Judo wizard.  

 

And so far she has not yet had to fall back on her Judo in fights where she decided to stand and bang. 

 

Ronda is STILL getting better every time she steps in the Octagon.

 

She is ahead of the game and has technique right now that other women simply don't have, and they won't get/learn in a couple years. She has been doing Judo since she could walk. Most of these other ladies took this up once they were already adults. This is still really 1st Generation Female MMA. Just like Royce hit a wall eventually and out of nowhere the sport passed him by, the same will happen with Ronda as the little girls she is inspiring right now will begin training at younger ages. The difference however is I don't think Ronda is going to hang around and fight long enough to have to face 2nd Gen females, the way Royce did with the guys.

Edited August 2, 2015 by NoCalMike

[Taylor703]

Go look at the Spiders MMA record and look at the names he destroyed. Hendo, Vitor, Forest, Thunder Okami, Franklin, Leben etc. These situations are not the same.

There's another bad ass female fighter on the planet and pretty much everyone calling Ronda the goat have no idea that she even exists. Sorry if that annoys me.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

She's fighting females who don't have the background she has, couple that with her athletic ability and it is an similar situation to Gracie.

Yeah, just wait for that influx of medalists in Judo to come poring in. Still waiting for it to happen in men's MMA. And "coupled with her athletic ability"? Royce was a stick figure fully reliant on technique. He was unathletic as hell.

He dominated a bunch of guys who had no clue what MMA was and this is essentially the same thing Ronda is doing. Most of these ladies didn't start until what, their late teens, early twenties?

Neither did Ronda. She started late too. These girls train at MMA gyms, Ronda doesn't have an enormous secret art like Royce. She's just extremely, extremely good at something. Like Werdum is at BJJ, or GSP was with takedowns. Royce wasn't even the best at BJJ in his own family. I know some of her competition has been training in particular arts since they were young too. Tate and McMann off the top of my head. Most of them have been striking longer than Ronda. Most male fighters today didn't start training in MMA until they were adults. A lot of them wrestled in high school or did BJJ when they were young, but the whole people who practiced MMA as children era hasn't hit in men's MMA yet, much less women's.

You'll have more fighters in WMMA like Ronda in about 10 years. There's a lot of little girls getting involved in the sport early now and imagine if you get an Serena Williams-type athlete in WMMA...who would stand a chance? It's a sport that has pretty much just started and that's why the comparison to Gracie is apt..

I agree, but WMMA exploded in 2007 with Gina Carano, and Cyborg has been fighting since 2005. The new chicks are more adept than the early 90s single-faceted fighters. I feel like a better comparison would be Fedor, where he ran roughshod through second generation fighters who were training in all 3 facets, and knew he was bringing gold medal Sambo. Cyborg would be her Cro Cop, cept the result may be different and there'd almost certainly be an early finish.

WMMA will progress in talent level, but I don't like downplaying what Ronda is doing right now. Everybody is doing real well outside of fighting her. Alexis Davis has had a lot of success, same with Meisha, Cat, McMann has big power and is a silver medalist wrestler. Carmouche is talented, had Ronda's back and almost neck cranked her. Ronda is awesome at fighting, outside of that striking defense, which I think showed itself a little tonight. Sticks her chin up.

If Cyborg makes 135, Ronda would be smart as hell to latch on to her ASAP.

Edited August 2, 2015 by d0ublestr0ker0ll

[Taylor703]

I'd be shocked if Dana lets her fight Cyborg.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

It was to the these women are skilled comment. I think she is the best grappler and a much better athlete than everyone else. Her striking isn't what I would call good. Correia opponents were 1-7, not going to call her a can but the division is super thin.

Her striking is good, her defense isn't. It's like she doesn't care about getting hit. She's got great knees to the body and her hands have pop. Don't think she's ever thrown a kick though...

The division is thin because of her. She makes girls look terrible. If there was no Ronda, Cat would be champ after bludgeoning Meisha with 10 Wandy knees. The competition would be stiff and the belt would probably change hands once or twice a year. I think it's more Ronda is just that good.

What about Cyborg's division? That **** is way worse!

[NoCalMike]

People see Cyborg highlights without any context of the quality of fighters she is facing.  Ronda is in there with the best female MMA has to offer.  Cyborg is often fighting bloated 135 lbers, of a lesser caliber who see the opportunity to fight Cyborg as a nice paycheck. Their level of competition is nowhere near the same. 

 

Look at how many other "world beaters" of other organizations have come over to UFC and suddenly they look as ordinary as the fighters who open PPV cards.  

 

I am not trying to say that Cyborg isn't good, but she simply is not who people think she is.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Go look at the Spiders MMA record and look at the names he destroyed. Hendo, Vitor, Forest, Thunder Okami, Franklin, Leben etc. These situations are not the same.

There's another bad ass female fighter on the planet and pretty much everyone calling Ronda the goat have no idea that she even exists. Sorry if that annoys me.

Easy to forget everyone clamoring for Silva to go for the LHW belt because MW was a wasteland. Same with people wanting GSP to fight Silva. Neither of them went up to chase the bigger champ, and eventually Hendricks and Weidman came around. Ronda will meet her match one day, it sneaks up on you.

Forrest was a perfect style matchup for Silva, and Okami was absolutely zero threat to him. Leben was a middle-tier old school brawler. Silva also crapped the bed against a green Maia, Leites and Cote. Those guys were in there because the division was a void. As good as Vitor was, his resurgence as a roided up freak happened after Silva killed him. Hendo is my boy though, that **** was impressive. Franklin, yeah, he was solid. **** was insane.

Vitor, Hendo and Franklin x2 are his best wins by far, they were all champions at times Silva wasn't around the top of the heap yet. If Ronda wasn't around to be the first UFC women's champion, Cat would've taken the belt from Meisha. Then someone else mighta taken it from Cat. Ronda's long term dominance, and the fact that Coenen and Kauffman are off the radar, are the reasons Ronda has no former champs to beat.

The division isn't great, and she's definitely not the greatest ever. Mr. Jose Aldo sitting in the front row tonight could attest to that. There are a lot of fighters ahead of her all time.

If she were to destroy Cyborg, now we're talkin top 10 perhaps. It'll be at 135 lbs, but still, it's the machine. They'd probably fight at least twice though.

Edited August 2, 2015 by d0ublestr0ker0ll

[autoidiodyssey]

Gotta give Bethe some credit for talking her way into a title fight with all the Horsewoman stuff. That was well thought out and executed and probably the only way she was ever going to get a title shot. Hope she got a nice pay day because I doubt she ever beats anyone in the top 10 at 135.

 

Look at her UFC opponents. A split decision win over Julie Kedzie who has lost 4 straight. Jessamyn Duke, who is 1-3 in the UFC and on the verge of being cut. And Shayna Baszler who was cut and hasn't won a fight since 2012. She really had no buisness being in there with Rousey. The fact that the UFC ranks her at 5 is a complete joke.

 

Bethe will give someone a nice "top 5" win in her next fight. She would be a good fight for Holm if they are looking to groom her for an eventual shot at Rousey. Maybe the winner of McMann vs Nunes. Or even Julianna Pena.

Edited August 2, 2015 by autoidiodyssey

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

A big part of the reason she got the fight was because Rousey has obliterated everyone, and crushed Meisha twice. All those fighters are trying to regroup, and Bethe was the next one left standing all the way in the back. The storyline helped, and the UFC records of her opponents sucked, but hey, what can ya do? Rousey cleaned house.

I am looking forward to one of the three prospects you mentioned stepping it up a few notches.

Nunes almost finished Cat. Cat ended up finishing her instead, but Nunes has a brown belt in Judo and a black belt in BJJ. Has good experience. One to keep an eye on.

Always thought Pena had a good fighter mentality and some nice talent. Think she can hurt Ronda if she improves over her next two or three fights.

Holm has underperformed in the UFC so far. She has some knockouts though, and Ronda might get too punchy with her. Think Ronda tosses her on her back the easiest though.

[Taylor703]

People see Cyborg highlights without any context of the quality of fighters she is facing. Ronda is in there with the best female MMA has to offer. Cyborg is often fighting bloated 135 lbers, of a lesser caliber who see the opportunity to fight Cyborg as a nice paycheck. Their level of competition is nowhere near the same.

Look at how many other "world beaters" of other organizations have come over to UFC and suddenly they look as ordinary as the fighters who open PPV cards.

I am not trying to say that Cyborg isn't good, but she simply is not who people think she is.

Well the WEC roster has done quite well in the UFC

[DM72]

I was almost a sucker. $59.99 well saved.

[Forehead]

If you can't get her and Cyborg in the ring together, you may have to start looking for sideshow attractions.  What weight class does that transgender fighter compete at?

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Hendo vs. Vitor III is booked.

Hendo, I'm scared for your health.

[StillUnknown]

Well the WEC roster has done quite well in the UFC

 

Strikeforce is pretty much propping up the MW division right now lol

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Dana says he's done with Big Nog. Says Big Nog agrees. Didn't see the fight but would agree that it's a good time to shut 'er down. Sorry SU. Was one hell of a career.

[StillUnknown]

just saw an ad for Texeira/OSP that said "Texeira took the former champ Jones to the limit"

 

 

thats one way to spin a 25 minute beatdown

[Taylor703]

Dana says he's done with Big Nog. Says Big Nog agrees. Didn't see the fight but would agree that it's a good time to shut 'er down. Sorry SU. Was one hell of a career.

It was a damn good fight.

[StillUnknown]

Cyborg has to drop to 135. Ronda is sitting on top of the world and Cyborg is beyond yolked in an even bigger wasteland of a division. Stop taking creatine and whatever is in those syringes, get on a treadmill, stop eating horsemeat, and go take the UFC title.

 

They were ready, willing, and able to do a catchweight for Rousey/Carano though

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

It was a damn good fight.

Cool. Nog regressed bigtime in the UFC, wasn't finished his whole career until he got there. Then he started getting absolutely brutalized. Three L's in a row, way down the ladder, insanely battle worn...yeah, it's a good time. A sendoff fight in Brazil maybe, like a rubber match with Barnett.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

They were ready, willing, and able to do a catchweight for Rousey/Carano though

Kinda how like Anderson fought lowly ass Bonnar instead of Jones. I kind of understand not sending every great champ you have directly at the best person in the world in the weightclass above. Don't want your champs getting faceplanted, yet retaining gold, very bad for business.

If Cyborg drops to 135 and wins, she'll be the champ, instead of being like some hitwoman tarnishing Ronda's belt and disappearing back to 145.