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Ronda Rousey unloads on potential opponent Cris 'Cyborg' Justino for steroid usage

Ronda Rousey unloads on potential opponent Cris 'Cyborg' Justino for steroid usage

Ronda Rousey has a July 5 title defense against Alexis Davis in Las Vegas, though she spent much of her time Friday discussing three potential opponents who aren't even in the UFC.

The bantamweight champion blistered Cris "Cyborg" Justino for steroid usage, calling it "criminal," and called for fighters to be banned from competition after one failed test.

She once again said it would be a dream to fight Gina Carano and praised former boxing champion Holly Holm's skill.

Rousey raved about Davis' jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing skills, but said Davis was far less known than other fighters because of her quiet, unassuming nature.

"I think the reason why people don't know her so well has nothing to do with her actual talent and more to do with the way she has chosen to promote her fights," Rousey said of Davis' low-key style.

[Also: Ronda Rousey's Tiger Woods-like domination not good for UFC women's division ]

There is far more talk among fans and media about Carano, an action movie star who is contemplating ending a nearly five-year fighting hiatus; Holm, the ex-boxing champion who recently won a regional MMA title; and Justino, the only woman to have defeated Carano, than there is about any potential Rousey opponent who is in the UFC.

Rousey said, "I totally adore Gina," and it would "be a privilege and an honor for me to fight her."

Rousey said she and her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, believe Carano would pose a more significant challenge to her than Justino would.

Rousey said she would fight Justino if the UFC wanted her to do so, but she said she's turned off by what she called Justino's long-term use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Justino admitted to Yahoo Sports last month that she'd used the anabolic steroid stanozolol prior to her Dec. 17, 2011, bout against Hiroko Yamanaka in a bid to help her make weight.

An emotional Justino told Yahoo she was naturally muscular from an early age. She said her use of stanozolol came as a result of bad advice.

"I don't need [steroids] for muscles," Justino told Yahoo Sports last month. "I always had muscles for as long as I remember. It's how I was born. I did it for the weight. It was a mistake, but it wasn't to cheat and get muscles. It was weight [loss]."

Rousey clearly doesn't buy that argument and fired broadsides at Justino for her steroid usage.

Rousey said she thought penalties for performance-enhancing drug usage should be much stiffer than they are. California suspended Justino for one year and fined her $2,500.

She had sharp words for Justino and accused her of long-term steroid usage.

"I've said before, I don't care if she's injecting horse semen into her eyeballs, I'll fight her, but that's just my personal decision," Rousey said. "But I can't make a decision for the whole division. I can't say it's the right thing. This girl has been on steroids for so long and [has been] injecting herself for so long that she's not even a woman anymore. She's an 'it.' It's not good for the women's division. It's not good at all.

"If she comes in the UFC and I beat the [expletive] out of her and then I retire and become an action movie star, then the UFC is still going to be stuck with her. The division could die. She could ruin the whole sport. Even though it's a fight a lot of people want to see, even if I beat the living crap out of her, it won't be good for the sport because then she'd still be in the UFC."

Rousey said she's been tested as part of the Olympic program since she was 14 and has never failed a test.

There are many fighters in the UFC who have failed tests and returned to competition with no problem, but Rousey said she believes, because of the potential consequences of steroid usage, the penalties should be stronger.

She said there should be bans for using steroids because of the damage they could cause in a fight. Rousey said she was also in favor of random, unannounced testing as is done during Olympic competition.

"I'd be honored to fight a competitor like Gina, who is an example of what real respect and honor is in the cage," Rousey said. "I really think with Cyborg taking all of those steroids and hormones and then going into the cage, it's like going in with a weapon. It's certainly very negligent, but it's also criminal. I believe, it really is. Promoting her would be promoting that act and I think it would be wrong in every way.

"I think it should be like the Olympics. If you [expletive] up once, you're not going to the [expletive] Olympics. There should be a zero tolerance policy where if you're caught doing anything, you should be done [expletive] forever."

Rousey said she hoped the UFC would be able to sign Holm, the former boxing champion who is now 7-0 with six TKOs in her fledgling MMA career.

UFC president Dana White held brief talks with Holm manager Lenny Fresquez, but they never came close on financial terms and White said he is done with the talks.

Rousey praised Holm as a fighter, but questioned the way her management team has negotiated. Regarding her own path to the UFC, Rousey said she simply wanted a chance and took advantage of it.

"She's fantastic and I think UFC fans would love her," Rousey said of Holm. "I've watched her and she has exciting matches and I think the fans would love her. But her management must not be approaching the UFC very well. I know they're open to it, but some people, I think, are too short-sighted. … I didn't try to argue over money. I wanted to get in and succeed, because I knew with success, the money would come.

"A lot of people try to get as much as they can before they've done anything in the UFC. I think the approach of getting in, making your mark and then taking advantage and making the money is the right way to do it."

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