Issue 149
December 2016
Ronda Rousey’s best chance of success lies with going back to her roots.
Little more than a year ago, Ronda Rousey was the biggest female athlete in the world.
She was undisputed UFC champion and mixed martial arts’ most lucrative undefeated fighter. She’d also transitioned from the Octagon to the front pages of magazines and TV chat shows all over the world as the first lady of fighting. Then she was hit with a reality strike.
When Holly Holm’s left shin connected with ‘Rowdy’s jaw in Melbourne, Australia, the shockwaves were felt across the world.
Exposed and KO’d, Rousey’s aura of invincibility was wiped away forever. No number of tweets from A-list fans would be able to repair the damage.
Only a revitalized and reimagined Rousey can climb her way back on top of the world. And when you’re the leading star in the sport, opportunity awaits.
The former champion returns and gets the chance to jump straight back in at the top by challenging newly-minted 135lb queen, Amanda Nunes.
In the 12 months she was AWOL, the women’s bantamweight class has been in a constant state of flux. Holm was defeated by Miesha Tate, then Tate was usurped by Nunes – all while Cris Cyborg has been stalking the division on the other side of an unbreakable, 5lb wall of glass.
But it’s about to feel a whole lot more regular when RRR returns. Forget about the jolty, shadowboxing incarnation of Rousey we saw at the end of her reign.
That iteration, which was ruthlessly dismantled, is long gone. We won’t be seeing Ronda the boxer for a long time.
No, think more of the arm-collecting judoka savage that ripped up the script entitled ‘Women’s MMA: Past, Present and Future’ and took the femmes fatales to the forefront of fight sports. Ronda Rousey 2.0 is basically going to be a manifestation of the original, the one prior to dominating the money list in the UFC. She has to be, it’s the only way she’ll survive.
Ronda Rousey is not a boxer, or a kickboxer for that matter.
She’s a judo Olympian, a grappler, a submission fighter – and now her back is against the wall, she simply must revert to type to ensure her best chance of survival.
Her blueprint for a successful return is straightforward: hone her A-game. Close the distance, push the pace, manhandle her opponents to the ground, then rip their arms off. When you’ve claimed multiple would titles with a streak of armbars with little resistance, there really is no reason to change tack.
Perhaps under pressure prove to herself that she was more than a one-trick pony, Ronda lost her way.
Standing and trying to trade with Holm was a huge mistake. A lifelong kickboxer and one of the greatest pro female boxers ever was a gift ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ lapped up. But had Ronda been switched on to her strengths, she might never have had to surrender her belt.
There’s no shame in armbarring your way to fame and fortune. No shame at all. In Las Vegas, against Nunes, the whole world was expecting the first lady of the Armbar Nation to return to the top of UFC’s superstar rankings by doing just that.
11 IN A ROW
Rousey won her first 11 fights across the amateur and pro ranks by armbar.
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