After media blackout, is Ronda Rousey ready for UFC 207 spotlight?
LAS VEGAS – The biggest news of the week from Ronda Rousey’s standpoint is that she broke kayfabe twice, both at the official and then the ceremonial weigh-in on Thursday.
The former women’s bantamweight champion, who is on a desperate quest to regain her title, faces Amanda Nunes at T-Mobile arena Friday in the main event of a stacked card at UFC 207.
Rousey has been mostly silent since losing her belt to Holly Holm in Australia on Nov. 14, 2015, in one of the sport’s most stunning upsets.
In the few times she’s been seen in public, Rousey has been mostly stone-faced or had a sneer. She was given a one-fight pass by UFC president Dana White from her media responsibilities.
Rousey was the first to appear at Thursday’s official weigh-in. Fighters could get on the scale at any point they wanted between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., and Rousey showed up at 9 on the dot.
As she walked expressionless to the scale, Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, said hello. Rousey smiled at Bennett and then, as if catching herself, suddenly stopped as she got on the scale. She immediately pivoted and left the room, passing on posing for the cameras, as soon as Bennett said she was 135 pounds.
As she walked to the scales for the ceremonial weigh-in at about 3:20 p.m., she smiled briefly as she was introduced to the crowd by Joe Rogan. But again, the smile left quickly and the scowl returned to her face.
She posed this time with Nunes, but while Nunes waited to do an interview with Rogan when the photographers were done with their work, Rousey immediately bolted.
Much has been made of her media blackout, but she may have generated more publicity for the card by not talking than if she had done her usual slew of interviews and public appearances.
There’s been discussion of her state of mind and concerns expressed for her mental health. People are trying to read her body language and offering opinions on her future without having heard a word from her.
She’s played it brilliantly, and if the time away from doing media events is responsible for the magnificent condition she was in, then it was a wise move for her.
Nunes is no joke and may be the most talented fighter Rousey has faced. Nunes has serious punching power, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and has a brown belt in judo. She won the title by submitting Miesha Tate in just 1:43 – faster than Rousey submitted Tate in either of their two fights, if you’re keeping score – with a rear naked choke at UFC 200.
The second-most discussed topic this week, trailing well behind Rousey’s media blackout, has essentially been a discussion of whether Rousey has been exposed as a fighter.
Her loss to Holm, as unexpected as it was, produced a predictable response. Many fans reveled in her defeat, openly celebrating it. Some in the media mocked her striking skills and called her vastly overrated.
While he was still running for the Republican nomination, President-elect Trump mocked Rousey after the loss, tweeting, “Glad to see that @RondaRousey lost her championship fight last night. Was soundly beaten – not a nice person!”
It unquestionably had to be difficult to keep perspective in the midst of all that. And all of the hoopla that surrounded her loss to Holm obfuscated the larger point: Rousey was, and remains, among the greatest MMA fighters who ever lived.
Her boxing was exposed by Holm, and she showed a poor defense. The loss was no fluke. Holm came into the cage with a masterful game plan drawn up by coaches Mike Winkeljohn and Greg Jackson, and executed it to perfection.
It showed that Rousey needed a lot of time in the gym working on her boxing.
But this sense that she was overrated and more of a product of UFC hype than one of the greatest fighters in MMA history is very wrong.
It doesn’t matter how one wins the fights; it matters only that you win.
For those who mocked Rousey’s striking after her loss to Holm, remember that she won her three previous fights in 16, 14 and 34 seconds.
That noise is coming mostly from boxing fans, who don’t completely get the mixed part of MMA. If Rousey had zero grappling skills whatsoever but was knocking people out in 16, 14 and 34 seconds, none of that talk would have begun in the first place.
Rousey’s reaction to the loss and going into seclusion were no doubt a bit over the top.
But it’s a good bet that her media blackout was a ploy, and it bought her extra days to work on the holes in her game. She didn’t have cameras in and out every day, which take time away from training. She didn’t have a media day in the middle of the camp, which was important from a marketing standpoint but not so important from a skills development standpoint.
Given the enormous interest there seems to have been, it appears that Rousey hasn’t lost a thing. White said the pay-per-view indicators are strong and he’s expecting another big number.
She’s taken a hit as far as the odds go. Oddsmakers have Rousey as a slight favorite, but she’s the smallest favorite of her career. Bovada.lv has Rousey at minus-175.
On the proposition of whether the fight goes the five-round distance, Bovada has “No” at minus-1400, while it has “Yes” at plus-575. It has Rousey as an 8-5 favorite in Round 1, followed by 13-2 in Round 2, 12-1 in Round 3, 22-1 in Round 4, and 35-1 in Round 5. If you like Rousey by decision, it’s 19-2.
Rousey is no sure thing, and she could even fight an excellent match and lose, because Nunes is that good.
Rousey, though, is a special athlete, and she’s shown that throughout her athletic career.
The stakes will never have been higher for Ronda Rousey than they will be on Friday, when she walks to the cage to challenge Nunes for the women’s bantamweight championship.
Another loss may push her into retirement.
That’s the kind of pressure in which Rousey has historically thrived. I’ll go with Rousey to reclaim the strap and return some normalcy to a division that has been turned on its head since her reign ended 411 days ago.
