Bas Rutten ‘Truly Believes’ Movies Aided Ronda Rousey’s Downfall
After suffering back-to-back stoppage defeats at the hands of Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey’s fighting future is currently unclear. In fact, it’s unclear whether or not she’ll ever fight again.
Once a supremely dominant champion, Rousey’s downfall has been a hot topic in mixed martial arts over the last year or so, and UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten ‘truly believes’ Rousey’s obligations outside of the cage aided in her fall from grace:
“I truly believe that,” Rutten told FOX Sports when asked if her career outside the cage played a factor in Rousey’s recent woes. “On the other side, her name is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and then the girls who are going to fight her, they know if they dethrone the champ, they’re going to be that known. It’s a judgment slip I think. That’s what happened there.
“Unfortunately, she hasn’t been able to pull it back together now.”
Rutten also feels as if the plethora of opportunities Rousey had simply put more and more pressure on her to perform in the Octagon:
“The problem also with Ronda was she had so many movie offers and the last fight that she had, everything was riding on that,” Rutten explained. “She knew that if she would lose, she would not only lose but she would lose all the movies, opportunities, everything would go away cause that’s how the world works. It’s unfortunate but that’s how the world works.
“Once you start losing, suddenly you’re not that interesting anymore. It’s bad that it happens, but it happens.”
Opportunities away from the cage have become common for some fighters, but Rutten says that it is the ‘dumbest thing’ because a fighter needs to be solely focused on fighting to perform at a high level:
“It’s the dumbest thing, especially as a fighter because they need to be mentally and physically prepared. They need to focus 100-percent solely on fighting,” Rutten advised. “That’s what I would do. It’s a thing where once they get an offer it’s like ‘wait a minute, I can do this and this can be a backup plan’ and then they totally forget about the consequences of acting. Then you see guys or girls who do it, they start losing their next fight. Because they aren’t focusing on the fight.
“It’s a hard job already. You’ve got to stay away from the injuries and everything else to keep the mind and body in tune while you’re doing another job on the side, it’s just not a great idea.”
Do you agree with Rutten’s comments, and do you expect Rousey to ever return to the cage?
