Who will dethrone Ronda Rousey???

[philwar]

I haven't read the entire thread, but I will add that if Ronda wants to be a movie star, she needs to decide which is more important to her: acting in movies, or MMA fighting. Because it's extremely difficult to straddle that line, having one foot in each pursuit, and be top-notch in either of them.

Agreed.

I'm not saying that Ronda lost to Holly because she was distracted; not at all. IMO, Ronda met her Kryptonite in Holly Holm. Styles (and individual fighters) make fights. Whether Ronda can improve enough to narrow the gap in her striking game to be competitive with Holly in that regard is the question, and as was already mentioned above, Ronda is very unlikely to achieve that.

That assessment is completely baseless. There is no reason why Rousey could not improve her standup game by a factor of 5, if she has the mental fortitude to go there.

She certainly will never be able to outstrike or outsmart Holly in the stand-up game. It's not just that Holly has great punches and kicks. She is the entire package, and puts all of her skills together exceedingly well.

She's nowhere near the entire package. She's by far the best striker in the division, and her takedown defense was very good but probably tailored for the Rousey fight. She has very little ground skills, and again, if you're a top level striker with good takedown defense, you can get away with that. But if she fights someone with the skills to close with her, it's a whole different game.

Prior to the fight, Ronda had said that if she ever lost it would completely devastate her.

Well she certainly looked devastated!

The fact is, you never really know an undefeated fighter until they've lost. Anybody can be a tough winner; it's only after a loss that we find out how mentally tough or fragile they actually are. I've seen fighters go undefeated for years in boxing and MMA, and once they suffer a loss (usually a devastating one), they tend to become beatable. It shatters their sense of invulnerability, and they're no longer a guaranteed winner.

Yep. History has lots of examples of this happening.

I remember a while ago when Ronda claimed that she could beat Georges St. Pierre if they ever fought.

If it's true she said that she needs better people around her, who will not hesitate to slap her back into sanity.

 

[James Y]

She's nowhere near the entire package. She's by far the best striker in the division, and her takedown defense was very good but probably tailored for the Rousey fight. She has very little ground skills, and again, if you're a top level striker with good takedown defense, you can get away with that. But if she fights someone with the skills to close with her, it's a whole different game.

I meant that Holly is the entire package with regards to her striking and overall standup skills. Compared to Ronda, Holly's standup game is at a whole other level. Ronda could indeed improve her striking, and she has the potential to beat Holly in a rematch if she can get her down and keep her there (anybody can lose on a given day), but will she be able to impose her abilities on Holly is the question. Some people are simply better at certain things than others. I do not believe that Ronda can train striking and beat Holly at Holly's own game. That's akin to saying that any of Ronda's previous opponents could train judo extensively and come back and beat Ronda with it in a rematch.

I will add that Ronda also comes into fights full of intense anger, which worked for her against her previous opponents. By her own admission, this is not an act that she's putting on. It worked for her then, but not against Holly. In fact, it may have backfired on her. Many times when fighters go into fights full of intense negativite emotions, it eventually works against them. Focus is important, but this goes far beyond that. It's been my observation, AND from personal experience, that carrying so much intense anger, especially for long periods, has very real negative effects on you physically, mentally and emotionally.

Jim

 

[philwar]

I meant that Holly is the entire package with regards to her striking and overall standup skills. Compared to Ronda, Holly's standup game is at a whole other level. Ronda could indeed improve her striking, and she has the potential to beat Holly in a rematch if she can get her down and keep her there (anybody can lose on a given day), but will she be able to impose her abilities on Holly is the question. Some people are simply better at certain things than others. I do not believe that Ronda can train striking and beat Holly at Holly's own game.

I agree with that. She shouldn't even try. All I am saying is, acquire sufficient striking to defend and close, as opposed to what happened to her now. It's doable.

That's akin to saying that any of Ronda's previous opponents could train judo extensively and come back and beat Ronda with it in a rematch.

Exactly. But as we saw, in their second fight, Tate took Rousey into the 3rd round, due solely to improved defense against the dreaded armbar. I'm sure Holm is doing much the same, in case she does end up on the floor, so she'd be able to defend, disengage and get back up. There's no hope she could submit Rousey, but defensive BJJ for a determined martial artist is relatively easy to learn. So in fact, both girls have to improve the weaker part of their respective games, with the far greater pressure on Rousey, since she's the one who has to close.

I will add that Ronda also comes into fights full of intense anger, which worked for her against her previous opponents. By her own admission, this is not an act that she's putting on. It worked for her then, but not against Holly. In fact, it may have backfired on her. Many times when fighters go into fights full of intense negativite emotions, it eventually works against them. Focus is important, but this goes far beyond that. It's been my observation, AND from personal experience, that carrying so much intense anger, especially for long periods, has very real negative effects on you physically, mentally and emotionally.

Couldn't agree more. One or two times she sort of fabricated a semi-believable excuse for why she was so over the top aggressive and angry at her opponent, but with Holm it was just ridiculous, and I too know for sure it worked against her rather than for her. Holm was completely unimpressed, was cool as f**k and dispatched her like an upstart.

 

[DB731]

Interesting contrast of personalities, provided by another famous female athlete:

Wambach's list of team and individual awards is endless.

In a career spanning 14 years, the 35-year-old has amassed two Olympic gold medals, one World Cup, a FIFA World Player of the Year award and six U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year crowns.

However, Wambach has made a very final cut to her career, deleting her social media accounts after tweeting "Make them forget me."

In a video for Gatorade which uses "forget me" as a recurring motif, she says she hopes "the next generation accomplishes things so great that I'm no longer remembered."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/16/footb...ticle_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obnetwork

 

[DB731]

I bet Ronda feels extra special right about now.

http://deadspin.com/miesha-tate-defeats-holly-holm-to-claim-ufc-title-1763135024

..at the same time, maybe she feels relieved that she doesn't have to fight Holm again?

 

[Shann]

I bet Ronda feels extra special right about now.

http://deadspin.com/miesha-tate-defeats-holly-holm-to-claim-ufc-title-1763135024

..at the same time, maybe she feels relieved that she doesn't have to fight Holm again?

Yup. Styles make fights. Rousey has to clinch to take someone down and Holm is too big and strong for that and is going to get hit coming in to clinch. Tate shot doubles under Holm's long left and got two of them and took full advantage. Tate is also not as aggressive (because she can shoot from outside) at trying to get inside so Holm's counterstriking wasn't as powerful. (Still effective though, I thought Holm probably would have won if not for the final takedown).

Other than being more confident and experienced, I didn't see anything that Tate did that makes me think she'll beat Rousey. But maybe without her aura of invincibility Rousey won't be quite as good.