Ronda Rousey: Making Sense Of An Enigma

UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey will be facing Former WBF Boxing Champion Holly Holm, January 2, 2016, at UFC 195 in Las Vegas.  This announcement comes as a surprise since UFC President Dana White had stated weeks ago that Rousey’s next opponent would be former Strikeforce Women’s Champion Miesha Tate.  Tate, who is on a four fight winning streak, has faced Rousey twice before and is the only woman to take a fight last beyond the first round (UFC 168) versus Ronda.

Rousey will be defending her title for the eighth time at UFC 195 and she had dominated her competition over that time.  With a career record of 12 wins and 0 losses, many claim Ronda Rousey is the greatest Women’s MMA fighter on the planet.  This claim is disputed though, by Christine “Cyborg” Santos-Justino, the current Invicta FC Women’s Featherweight Champion.  “Cyborg” has not lost a fight since 2005 and has talked publicly about fighting Rousey in the UFC.  Since UFC parent company, Zuffa, also owns Invicta FC, there is nothing legally or contractually holding this match up from happening.

What is holding the fight back is the lack of agreement on the when and how to make the matchup happen.  “Cyborg” has fought at 145 lbs for most of her career and UFC President Dana White has said that she needs to cut down to 135 lbs to fight Rousey.  This issue has put the potential women’s “Superfight” on the back burner. It doesn’t help that Rousey has no willingness to make an attempt at compromise, saying the fight “should” happen at 135lbs.

While Rousey is a great fighter, the “Dog and Pony Show” from her and the UFC is getting old.  Almost every opponent for Rousey is billed as “the most dangerous opponent yet” and Rousey typically talks about how hard she is preparing for the fight knowing how she must be ready for anything.  Then fight night comes along and she dominates, walking away with her title again and again.  This is by no means a disparagement of her opponents, who all are talented in their own right.  Top tier MMA fighters such as Cat Zingano, Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche, and Sara McMann all presented unique challenges for Rousey, but no one has yet to figure out the enigma that is Rousey in the octagon.

While it is true Holly Holm is a dangerous fighter, what makes her such an underdog against Rousey is the same as most of Rousey’s opponents over the years: Rousey is a former Olympic Silver Medalist, Holm is not.  Yes, Holly Holm has won six different boxing championships during her pro career as a fighter, but she has never faced a fighter of Rousey’s pedigree.  The truth is, very few women’s MMA fighters ever have seen anyone like Rousey until now.

What makes Rousey great isn’t her undefeated record; instead it is how she got to this point and what sustains her.  She is not motivated like most athletes, because most athletes could never compete in the Olympics.  In order to be an Olympic athlete, that individual must work their way up the ladder of competition for years, preparing for the chance to be able to go to Olympic Trials.  At the Olympic Trials the athlete must compete for the chance to represent their country at an elite competition that is hosted every four years.  Once chosen, that athlete then goes to the Olympics and has to compete against the best every nation has to offer, all who have spent many years preparing themselves for that moment.  In that moment, all those years of preparation can either prepare that athlete for victory, or compromise them, leading to defeat.

Rousey won the Bronze Medal in Judo at the 2008 Olympics. Judo is a Martial Art discipline that is equally a demonstration of mental chess match as executing physical technique. Most of the women who comprise the professional MMA landscape have Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai or Kickboxing as their fight game foundation.  These four fighting disciplines test mental toughness while requiring physical endurance and fluid execution of technique.  Fighters with years practicing these disciplines faced issues decades ago when Royce Gracie won 11 straight fights utilizing a Martial Art discipline similar to Judo: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Like Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is as much of a mental competition because both involve the manipulation of the opponents’ momentum, joints, and offensive mentality.  Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are counter-offensive disciplines based in strategic defense.  When you have a fighter who has been trained for years to take advantage of opponent’s aggression and weaknesses, that fighter has a built in advantage in competition against fighters are not trained with the same mentality.

Like Ronda Rousey, Royce Gracie seemed invincible early on, even when he was in trouble in a fight, he would find a way to walk away with a victory.  But will history view Rousey as they do Royce Gracie twenty-two years later, as a legendary pioneer yet as a fighter who was outpaced by competition that evolved their game plans?  The greatest difference between Ronda and Royce is that she has worked tirelessly to improve the weak areas in her fight game instead of being overly dependent on her strengths. Rousey on many occasions said her goal is to finish her career undefeated, whether that happens or not only time will reveal.

Is Holly Holm the most dangerous opponent Rousey has ever faced?  The argument can be made since Holm has competed as a professional fighter for 10-plus years and has won multiple titles.  This championship fight at UFC 195 is the classic “Striker versus Grappler” matchup, but both fighters are working with coaches who are skilled at the all-around Mixed Martial Arts game plan.  The fighter who comes into the matchup most prepared to handle their opponent’s strengths and can execute properly, that fighter will walk away with the UFC belt.  Rousey’s “legend” only grows with each win, but it is her background as an Olympic Judo fighter that has laid the foundation for her excellence in the UFC Octagon.

Fedor losses to Werdum: Aftermath

Last night something happened many Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fans believed was nearly impossible: Fedor Emelianenko lost a MMA match for the first time in ten years. He had fought 29 times since his first career loss in December 2000 and the only fight he did not win was ruled a "No Contest" because of an accidental Head Butt. Saturday night Fedor was caught in a Triangle Choke-Armbar by his opponent Fabricio Werdum. Werdum, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, was a heavy underdog coming into this fight.

This fight showed that even one of the best fighters ever can loose if he gets caught in a bad situation. For many years people had assumed that the only way to be Fedor was in a stand up war because of his background in Sambo and Judo. Sambo was considered the Martial Art that had the best defensive positioning to foil the submission moves of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For a decade Fedor took on men of numerous fighting style backgrounds such as Kickboxing, Muay Tai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and even Boxing; yet for 29 straight fights Fedor found a way to not loose.

This loss doesn't diminish Fedor's legacy as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, just like the bad last season of Babe Ruth's career or the last couple lackluster season's of Michael Jordan's career doesn’t diminish their legends. Whether one is a fan or not of Fedor, he is definitely a legend in Mixed Martial Arts.

So the man who was considered the best Heavyweight MMA fighter in the world has finally lost, now what?

*Well for starters this is a great day for Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The UFC is widely recognized as the premier MMA organization in the world. The UFC has positioned itself as the place where the best of the best fight in the same way the NFL has with football and the NBA has with basketball. Werdum is a fighter who use to fight in the UFC and had a 2-2 record before leaving the UFC. Dana White (who is the President and promotional front man of the UFC where he appears to be a combination between NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Boxing Promoter Bob Arum) has said that Fedor was avoiding fighting the Best of the Best since he would not come to the UFC. Fedor has fought for every other recognizable MMA entity except the UFC. So now that Fedor's first loss in ten years was to a guy who won two out of four fights in the UFC gives credibility to White's claims of UFC superiority with MMA talent.
Also, the UFC can now promote their upcoming Heavyweight matchup as the fight to crown the next top Heavyweight fighter in MMA. UFC 116's main event matches current Heavyweight Champ Brock Lesnar and Interim Heavyweight Belt holder Shane Carwin. With Fedor losing to a former UFC fighter, White can say that whoever wins the fight between Lesnar and Carwin will take Fedor's place as top heavyweight in the world.

*One the other hand this is a major low point for M-1 Global, the official promoter for Fedor Emelianenko. The organization has held MMA competitions while acting as the agent for Fedor (who is a part owner of M-1). Fedor's invincibility was M-1's meal ticket. They positioned themselves in a way that they could drive a hard bargain for the top Heavyweight fighter in the world. But now that he has lost, that image that was portrayed of Fedor has been damaged and their ability to play hardball is gone. While Fedor said after the fight he has one more fight in America because of the contract he signed, M-1 cannot make any demands on who he will fight next.

*Interestingly enough, Strikeforce comes out of this with a positive. Strikeforce has been viewed as that "other" MMA organization where guys who do not like the UFC or may be UFC cast offs go. A simple analogy would be to say Strikeforce is to UFC what the USFL in the 1980's was to the NFL or what the ABA was to the NBA in the 1970's. Strikeforce made a hard push to get a deal signed with Fedor. The fact that Fedor lost to one of Strikeforce's own guys, Werdum, shows that Strikeforce has some high level MMA fighters in their organization. But the issue will continue to be that Strikeforce does not come close to the UFC in terms of talent depth or visibility. Strikeforce's best bet from here on out is to position themselves as either the alternate in MMA to the UFC or eventually be absorbed in the UFC just like the ABA was by the NBA.

*Fedor has a few options for the final fight of his contract. Strikeforce needs to take full financial advantage of its last opportunity to market Fedor since he might retire after this next fight. They cannot rationalize having Fedor fight their current Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem after a loss, so they could have Fedor fight Antonio Silva. Silva has one loss in his last eight fights and it was to the man who just beat Fedor, Fabricio Werdum.
Strikeforce could also try to set up a "super fight" with one of their other star fighters. Dan Henderson (who recently lost to current Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Jake Shields) is an option. Henderson (a former UFC fighter) use to fight as a light heavyweight and has had issues in the past cutting weight to fight at 185 lbs. Fedor is considered an average sized heavyweight fighter so Henderson would only have to give up a couple inches height wise in a fight with Fedor. Also the option of not having to cut weight for Henderson would be a definite appeal. Strikeforce could market the fight as "USA versus Russia" since Henderson represented the US in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics as a wrestler.
On the other hand Strikeforce could set up a "Super Fight" between Fedor and their current Light Heavyweight Champion Mohammed "King Mo" Lawal. Lawal dominated Gegard Mousasi for five round in his last fight in which he won the Light Heavyweight Strikeforce belt. Lawal does not have a clear cut opponent to defend his belt against in Strikeforce's light heavyweight division. A matchup with Fedor could be viewed as an informal passing of the MMA torch between legend and up-and-comer. In this fight both guys win no matter the result. If Fedor wins it would be pointed out he is one of the greatest MMA fighters ever and he went out on top while Lawal is young yet. If Lawal wins it would be rationalized that Lawal can now be labeled a real MMA Star in beating a legend while people can say that having over thirty fights in his career has worn down Fedor.


As a side note, I was never a big fan of Fedor Emelianenko. I was tired of him always winning and wanted to see someone beat him. In 2005 Fedor was set to fight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. In my mind I thought if anyone was talented enough of a fighter to beat Fedor it was Crop Cop. But Fedor beat him by Unanimous Decision. Crop Cop was the last fighter who was able to go an entire fight without being finished by Fedor. After that Fedor rattled off 8 straight fights in which he finished his opponents. So it seems only fitting that a fighter who stopped 21 out of 29 opponents by either submission, Technical Knockout (TKO) or Knockout (KO) over the course of a decade would be beaten by a fighter who submitted him.

Ultimately it is the way that Fedor handled the loss is what gave me a new level of respect for him. He handled the loss graciously and professionally. He didn’t make excuses, he didn't complain, he wasn’t even mad. It was as if a burden was taken from him. He is allowed to be human again. I cannot imagine the pressure Fedor was under for so long because people viewed him as invincible.

No matter what happens from here on out, it should be recognized that Fedor was more than just a legend, he is a fighter who changed MMA. He didn't just beat six different champions of different MMA organizations, but it is how he defeated fighters is what made him unique. The old mantra is "styles make fights". Fedor never tried to exclusively use his skills as a Sambo and Judo fighter to his advantage over his opponents. Instead he won by beating his opponents at what they do best. If you were famous for knocking people out, Fedor was not afraid to exchange strikes with you and then he would knock you out. If you were known as a great wrestler or grappler, he would submit you. If you were known to be able to outlast your opponents and beat them by outscoring them, Fedor would beat you that same way. His style of fighting forced people to see that MMA was not suppose to be about brute force or being super skilled at a specific martial art discipline, but to win you must be all around skilled fighter who knows how to use your talents and martial art acumen to beat your opponent. And above all, how he handled himself and how he respected other fighters raised the bar for sportsmanship. Fedor changed MMA forever; he put the "Martial Arts" back in MMA.