Womens' MMA mega-thread

[crushed4life]

NEW YORK POST
Is Ronda Rousey too hot for the UFC?
By MARC RAIMONDI
Last Updated: 10:17 PM, July 31, 2013

UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey will be in "The Expendables 3," the first of what is likely to be multiple movie roles.
The UFC has a supernova on its hands. But will Ronda Rousey be too hot to hold onto?

Rousey isn't just the UFC women's bantamweight champion anymore. Not just a magazine cover girl either. When she starts filming "The Expendables 3" in August, she'll be a movie heroine and her upward ascent doesn't seem close to reaching its peak.

UFC president Dana White has already had a run-in with her "Hollywood lawyer," he told MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani in a video interview Wednesday. As White tells it, the attorney called him a few days before Rousey began filming "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, which she'll be coaching on against December opponent Miesha Tate. White says he and the lawyer "got into it," but he wouldn't say what it was about.

"It was one of the most ignorant f------ moves in the history of ignorant moves," White told Helwani. "I flipped out and I lost my f------ mind. And that's it."

Everything has seemingly gone smoothly since then. Rousey and Tate completed filming for the show, which will premiere on FOX Sports 1 on Sept. 4. Now the pair – and six other UFC stars – are on a world press tour which took them to Beacon Theatre in Manhattan on Wednesday.

White and Rousey clearly have a good relationship despite White's argument with her lawyer. Rousey is also a competitor – she's a former Olympic judo medalist. It's doubtful she'll walk away from her sport at age 26.

But she's also represented by prestigious William Morris Agency and her Q rating is higher than any other fighter – male or female – in the UFC. ESPN didn't choose Anderson Silva or Georges St-Pierre to be on the cover of the 15th anniversary issue of its magazine. She also graced the cover of ESPN's' "Body Issue" last year in the buff.

At the Beacon Theatre, there was little doubt who most of the fans were there to see despite the presence of St-Pierre and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Rousey stayed on the stage an hour after most had left signing autographs before heading to Bristol, Conn., with Tate to appear on ESPN shows Thursday.

Will Rousey let her celebrity get in the way of fight preparation? Well, she's already going to spend part of her training camp for Tate filming "Expendables" in Bulgaria. Rousey says it'll be the same amount of work before the inaugural UFC women's fight in February which saw her defeat Liz Carmouche.

"Last camp everybody was telling me I've never seen [mainstream media attention] like this for a Mayweather camp, a Silva camp, GSP," Rousey said. "It was just nuts. ... I'm gonna replace that with different work."

White is cool with her movie arrangements, though he admits he "f------ hates" when fighters do movies during their UFC career.

"I hate it when it interferes with what we're doing," he said. "I don't care what movie you're doing. I don't care if they're doing ET 2. They make more money here than they do anywhere else. I know that the allure of movies and Hollywood is exciting and it's fun and it's enticing. But this is where they make their money."

White said "Expendables" was "not a problem at all" because Rousey asked him about it first. St-Pierre also has a part in the "Captain America" sequel and he cleared it with the UFC before agreeing to it as well.

"It's a new adventure, a new unseen territory," Rousey said. "I'm super excited to be changing the scene a little bit, even though it seems like everything around me is constantly evolving anyway. I operate best in chaos."

Ronda Rousey (l.) and Miesha Tate will coach against each other on "The Ultimate Fighter" starting in September and fight each other for the title in December.

Rousey says she'll bring everything she needs for training to Bulgaria and she also has "Expendables" cast members Victor Ortiz, a boxer, and Randy Couture, a UFC Hall of Famer, there to work with.

"I can't imagine that that's going to be easy for her," Tate said. "But she did say she's a world champion, not because she's had the perfect circumstances every fight, it's because she has a good mentality. I think she has the mentality to deal with it."

It could also be that the Rousey is so much better than every other female fighter in the world. She's undefeated and has submitted all seven of her pro opponents in the first round with armbars. She has also already beaten Tate once.

Maybe she's all but mastered MMA and she's bored with it? Training on a day-to-day basis is one hell of a grind.

Gina Carano was a women's MMA pioneer before a movie career that has seen her star in "Haywire" and "Fast Six." Could that be Rousey's path sooner rather than later?

When asked Wednesday what her role would be in "Expendables," Rousey replied: "It's an action movie and I'm an action chick. What do you think?"

The real question is how long will she remain a UFC fighter?

[Ronald_Frump]

She can do movies and still defend her title twice a year no problem, because the competition is so weak. IMHO she'll hang around long enough to beat Cyborg, then quit undefeated and make a permanent move to tinsel town.

[sammy_scuffles]

She can do movies and still defend her title twice a year no problem, because the competition is so weak. IMHO she'll hang around long enough to beat Cyborg, then quit undefeated and make a permanent move to tinsel town.

Assuming she can act. Not that she's going to have too much trouble standing out around amongst the Expendables crowd.

I tend to disagree that she can half-ass her fighting career though. The Carmouche fight showed that she's plenty capable of screwing up and getting beaten even when she's focussed. She absolutely should win against anyone they put in front of her for the next couple of years, but after that performance there's no way I'd bet my house on it.

In other news, Sara McMann is out of her fight with Kaufmann. For undisclosed reasons, although I read a quote somewhere from her manager saying she'd be back in the cage soon. Hopefully nothing too serious.

[Ronald_Frump]

Just in case anyone here might be interested.....

http://www.squeezequeens.com/index.php?topic=794.0

[crushed4life]

This article helps explain why the female judokas may be the most badass women in the near future of WMMA...

2 Tough Female Judo Techniques Masters: Ronda Rousey and Dr. AnnMaria De Mars
by the Editors

Tough guys, we have plenty. In fact, on any given day you can't swing a nunchaku around the Black Belt office without hitting a self-defense expert, an MMA champ or a street-hardened master who has dropped by for an interview or photo shoot.

Tough girls are a different matter.

First off, we don't have as many women cycling through.

Second, not all the female martial artists we deal with are into fighting; some practice the arts for other, less physical reasons.

These two female martial artists, however, bring some special accolades and history to the table. Both were featured on Black Belt magazine's recent two-part article series "Tough Girls: 10 Female Fighters Who Scare Us."

Dr. AnnMaria De Mars

Background of This Judo Techniques Master: She's been a judoka since she was 12 and coached since she was 14. She's also the co-author of Winning On the Ground: Training and Techniques for Judo and MMA Fighters (featuring Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison), among other books, and — oh, yeah — the mother of MMA sensation and definitely-a-judo-techniques-expert-in-her-own-right, the aforementioned Ronda Rousey.

Qualifications of This Judo Techniques Master: In 1984, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars became the first American judoka to win the World Judo Championships. That means her judo techniques were first-rate back then — and the fact that she's remained actively involved in the sport means she's kept herself up to date on technical developments in the judo world.

Comments Regarding This Judo Techniques Master: "She's tough," says Lito Angeles, author of Fight Night! The Thinking Fan's Guide to Mixed Martial Arts. "I saw her on Inside MMA, and she threw around Bas Rutten pretty well.

"They say judo is the combat art that has the most female competitors. That means it has the biggest base of elite female fighters, and that, of course, means the level of competition is higher. So any martial artist who was a world champion in judo has to have great skills."

Having great skills entails knowing plenty of throws among one's judo techniques and being able to do them flawlessly. That translates into having the ability to function on the feet as well as on the mat — which, it could be argued, is better than just knowing mat fighting from having practiced BJJ.

"When a competent judo exponent like De Mars blasts you to the ground — and it's concrete instead of a mat — a lot of damage can be done," Lito Angeles says. "That's a great skill to have."

Making matters worse for the assailant, with judoka at this level of mastery in their judo techniques, it's next to impossible to even lay hands on them. "As soon as you reach out, you give them something to grab," Lito Angeles says. "That's all they need to off-balance you and slam you into the ground.

"Street self-defense should technically be about stun and run. You don't approach it like a street MMA fight. You want to do enough to be able to safely get out of there. Judo throws are like stun and run because you're not attaching to the attacker. The common reflex is for the other person to hold onto you when you try to throw him, but a really hard slam will stun him badly enough to make him let go."

* * *
One Black Belt editor grappled with the person who made No. 1 on the aforementioned "Tough Girls" list — and based on such experience, he'll readily attest that the list was full of women who can handily kick male butt. ("Isn't it reassuring to learn that the promises of the martial arts — you know, all those claims about being the great equalizer — are legit?" he says about the incident.)

That No. 1 tough girl? None other than ...

Ronda Rousey

Background of This Judo Techniques Master: A judoka since the age of 10, Ronda Rousey has medaled in international competition numerous times. In 2008, Ronda Rousey bagged a bronze in Beijing, becoming the first American woman to win any Olympic medal in judo. For that victory, she was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame. In 2010 she dipped her toe in MMA and continued her winning ways. As of this post, her record stands at 7-0.

Qualifications of This Judo Techniques Master: To complement the world-class catalog of judo techniques and skills she acquired from the likes of Jimmy Pedro, Ronda Rousey is being schooled in grapping and MMA by Gokor Chivichyan and Gene LeBell. "She's a girl, but she has guy skills," Gokor Chivichyan says. "I think she could fight men at her weight and win with no problem. Her submissions, ground fighting and takedowns are all excellent."

"Her boxing has recently come around — she busted a pro boxer's jaw in a fight," Gene LeBell says. "Ronda has heavy hands. I'd rate her skills as nearly a 10 in everything."

Also of note is that Rousey is the daughter of Dr. AnnMaria De Mars, the martial artist who occupied the No. 7 spot on Black Belt's "Tough Girls" list. Coincidence? We think not!

Comments Regarding This Judo Techniques Master: "Ronda was a guest on The Ultimate Fighter Season 15 — Dominick Cruz brought her in to put on a clinic," Fight Night! author Lito Angeles says. "She injured his knee with a throw — that's why he's out. She then demonstrated on all the guys on his team, and during the post-throw interviews, they all said she's a badass. She pinned them down after the throws, and they said she was crushing them. They were all believers. You could tell they underestimated her."

Starting with a foundation based in judo techniques, acquiring experience in the Olympics, and then moving into MMA and boxing is a wonderful progression, Lito Angeles adds. "Some people have criticized her for not having good stand-up, but I think it's just that she hasn't had to use it yet because her judo skills are so good — she's defeated all her opponents by armbar.

"Ronda is the most vicious fighter on [Black Belt's "Tough Girls"] list. She has no problem breaking arms — there's a lot to be said for any martial artist who can do that intentionally. She's hard-core."

[Ronald_Frump]

As a percentage of the human population, Ronda could "badd-ass" every single member of this forum 

[sammy_scuffles]

Is it just me or does that article read like it was written by a 12 year old? It's all over the place.

Also, Rousey didn't injure Dominick Cruz. Yay journalism!

[jiminy]

Also, Rousey didn't injure Dominick Cruz. Yay journalism!

Some say it's not true until it's officially denied. 

[sammy_scuffles]

Even if it was true I'd have issues with people using it as evidence that she's a badass. Injuring training partners isn't badass, it's something to be avoided.

[sleepinbin]

Fair play to Cruz for pointing out that it's not fair on Ronda to have people take what was a joke - and I thought established to be an obvious one a hell of a long time ago - seriously. That's, as Sammy says, not a rep you want as a training partner.

So basically whoever wrote that article Crushed4Life posted is very good at parroting hype, less good at journalism.

[crushed4life]

Nightline did a feature on Ronda last night:

[crushed4life]

Miesha did a hangout a couple days ago:

[sammy_scuffles]

Sarah Kaufman is now going to fight newly signed Jessica Eye at UFC 166.

Jessica Eye is good, so it should be fun. Unfortunately she's also another one moving up from her ideal weight class to find the big fights, but hopefully she's not too undersized at 135. I still haven't heard anything else about why McMann pulled out of the fight with Kaufman though.

[Ronald_Frump]

I predict the "Evil One" will defeat Kaufman via superior grappling. She crushed Gurgel into a rag-doll with this arm-triangle...... 

[sammy_scuffles]

Okay, I hadn't seen that but that's sick. I don't think I've seen someone finish a standing arm triangle before.

Worth noting that it's her only finish in her last 7 or so fights though. Seems unlikely that she's going to go from not finishing Carina Damm to mauling Sarah Kaufmann.