For seven fights, Ronda Rousey was able to put her opponent away with her patented “one-hitter quitter” arm bar within the five first minute time frame of a mixed martial arts bout.
Saturday night, Miesha Tate was able to break, swat through and shatter that streak by staging off the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion until 58 seconds into the third round. Though she eventually succumbed to the armbar, Tate looked resilient and gutsy as she stood toe-to-toe on foot with Rousey and intestinal fortitude by taking the fight to the ground.
While Rousey was able to judo hip toss her opponent at her discretion, it’s safe to say this is the last opportunity she has to do so. During the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White announced that Rousey will step right back into the Octagon on Feb. 22 at UFC 170 to defend her belt against former U.S. Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann.
If you’ve seen any of McMann’s fights or even her weigh-ins, you know that she’s completely jacked and always faces her opponents at peak physical condition.
McMann got the better of Team Rousey TUF pupil and catchwrestler Shayna Baszler in the main event at Invicta FC 2. On that night, McMann was able to dictate where the fight went almost at will and while there were only a few times where “The Queen of Spades” had her in trouble, McMann was able to fend off Baszler’s offense to showcase impressive standup, dominant wrestling to the tune of an unamused decision victory.
McMann had a huge layoff after that fight but got back into the Octagon to make quick work of Sheila Gaff, who was released shortly after, at UFC 159. It was a fairly one-sided affair in which one fighter bought a string of offense, while the other only bought a wet lunch tray full of slippery defense.
Being two former Olympians (Rousey also with a bronze in judo), one would think they would both be fan favorites but the champion has ruffled so many feathers with the fans that the notion can pretty much be wiped out for the rest of her career, barring a serious gluteus Maximus kiss. Rousey said in an interview with Ariel Helwani that she embraced playing the role of the villain.
In all fairness, she has every right to. However, one has to wonder if it’s really worth it moving forward. Reason being is McMann will unquestionably have the fans behind her and receive great reception from the Mandalay Bay Event Center crowd in Las Vegas. It’ll resemble the one Tate received from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night, possibly even louder.
Rousey for the most part is loud, fairly abrasive, outspoken and doesn’t often think before she speaks. The words just naturally flow right out, albeit to her public detriment (see Sandy Hook comments for more details). McMann on the other hand is soft-spoken, polite, says all the right things and embraces the fans. These are all qualities that not only sell a great image, but get the crowd behind you in an enormous fashion.
Rousey can play up the bad girl image as she chooses. The popular belief is that the fans will pay regardless of a fighter’s attitude, provided that they show up and fight. However, there are also instances where a fan (albeit casual or hardcore) will choose not to spend their money because while said fighter is talented, they may be too much of a prude to garner the monetary spending of the fan in question.
If I’m a WMMA fan but don’t like Rousey or the champion, do I really want to put $2 per pay-per view buy into her pocket? That’s the amount of dollars earned for PPV points to the headliner and/or champion. Although the audience at home may get behind McMann, they might opt to head to a local bar instead to avoid giving Rousey any of their hard-earned money, even if it’s just a small chunk of pocket change.
That’s just the financial side of it. On the fight side, McMann has all the physical tools to dethrone the champion with her dominant wrestling, ever-improving standup game and her (at times) aesthetic physically dominating prowess. If you stood Rousey and McMann side-by-side with each other, you’ll notice a physique difference the challenger has that hasn’t been seen with any of the champion’s previous opponents.
The only other fighter who came remotely close to McMann’s size was Julia Budd, a natural 145-pounder. It’s almost scary how big McMann looks at 135 and seemingly dwarfs Rousey at first glance. While the “Rowdy” one was able to throw Tate at will, she won’t be able to do that to McMann much, if at all.
The best tactical approach to implementing Rousey’s game plan in this fight will be to look for a technically sound leg sweep. Otherwise, this could very well be the fight that snaps the champ’s eight-fight undefeated streak. A look at Rousey’s next opponents (should she get past McMann) are women who all pose a serious physical threat to her title: Cat Zingano, Alexis Davis and Amanda Nunes just to name a few.
Thus, “Rowdy” will have to find a new strategy to take down her opponents, especially McMann, if she wants to get in and remain in her comfort zone because old tricks made to physically inferior opponents in previous bouts just won’t work anymore.
This fight will be the champion’s real true test. It’s time to dial up the fact that McMann will get a great reception, wherever she goes, in both the buildup and the fight itself. Unless Rousey fine tunes her game to match her opponent’s brute strength blow for blow, she may not have many “bars” left.