Outside Source
On a current media run, Rousey, the organization’s inaugural bantamweight queen, has distanced herself from MMA as a whole. Asked repeatedly if she will ever return to professional unarmed combat and leave the confines of pro wrestling, the 38-year-old is quite pleased with what she accomplished in 14 appearances as a whole. She may be training, but that is allegedly not for fighting purposes. While Rousey says she will never return, she does so in part due to some of animus that has developed towards the sport’s historically caustic fanbase.
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Rousey spoke on “Bertcast” on Wednesday, telling host Bert Kreischer, as transcribed by MMA Fighting,“MMA fans and media are the most ‘what have you done lately for us’ crowd of any sport. You look at WWE and they have such a reverence for their legends. In MMA, it’s like the second you’re not on top, you’re not s–t and you never were s–t.”
She went on to mention a number of UFC greats, and how audiences turned on them as their careers extended. She dropped the names of Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Mike Tyson, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko, before stopping on ex-lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov. She had a little extra to say about “The Eagle.”
“I think the only reason why MMA have their lips so firmly planted at the base of Khabib’s c–k is because he retired before he reached his limit. If he kept fighting until he reached his limited, everybody would be like, ‘Khabib ain’t s–t , he never was s–t,’” the two-sport star remarked.
They Don’t Understand How Short Your Shelf Life Is
As she has gotten older, Rousey has served introspective about her run. This includes winning—technically, defending the one that was promoted—the 135-pound throne against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in 2013 and holding onto it against five challengers. Holly Holm wrested the belt from her in 2015, and an attempted return effort for “Rowdy” ended poorly when Amanda Nunes smoked her in 48 seconds the following year.
While Rousey wanted to go the whole way through her career without taking a loss, the pain of her back-to-back knockout defeats to Holm and Nunes has dulled significantly over the years. She blames this on a change in thinking.
“I wanted to retire undefeated because I was so afraid of everything I accomplished is going to be nothing if I ever lose. So, I have to retire undefeated. It wasn’t until I got to the WWE and saw that wait, you have to retire on a loss,” she found.
A former moderator on a Pokemon forum, Rousey has interacted with the general masses for years. As she has grown in fame, much of that has changed, including the relationship between herself and the fanbase.
“The fans, a lot of them have never fought,” Rousey posited. “It’s not like football where a lot of people who watch have done football. They don’t understand how short your shelf life is and how every fight changes you. Even in the fight you come out unscathed, you didn’t come out of the training camp unscathed.”
The former champ continued, “You can’t keep it up for very long. It’s just the human body. You’re taking impact to the head. This is your f—ing brain. We can’t make your brain stronger or more calloused. There’s a limit to how much you can take. As soon as anybody reaches that limit, you ain’t s–t, you never were s—t.”
Rousey considers more players in the industry “fans” than most would normally include in that category. In addition to the MMA media, a usual target in the industry as of late, Rousey places one famed commentator in that grouping as well. Unless the person has competed in MMA, Rousey does not feel that people quite understand what those fighters go through. That includes Joe Rogan.
“He wouldn’t know. He’s not an expert, he’s a fan with an audience. [He’s] never fought! [Taekwondo] is not fighting,” Rousey said dismissively.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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