Ronda Rousey Still Believes She Could Win Olympic Gold
Undefeated at 11-0 and quickly becoming the most prevalent star in MMA after her first round submission over Cat Zingano at UFC 184, women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey remains at the center of a hotbed of MMA news.
She’s made headlines by stating that she would give herself a chance against any fighter in the world (male or female), but then shot down that talk by saying that her fighting a man in the Octagon just isn’t realistic. Yet Rousey still isn’t slowing down concerning lofty athletic goals that she believes she’s capable of.
An Olympic bronze medalist in judo, Rousey opened up in a recent discussion with NBC Sports to state that she still thinks she could win Olympic gold, but she doesn’t have enough time to commit to such a pursuit.
“I still believe I would be able to win the Olympics. That takes 100 percent of your energy. It has to be the No. 1 priority in your life.”
It’s tough to doubt anything Rousey says given her recent dominance of her last three opponents, whom she finished in a jaw-dropping total of 96 combined seconds. However, she never won Olympic gold or even silver, and that was when she was fully entrenched in competing on the international stage.
Now she has numerous movie roles, endorsements, modeling appearances, and more title fights to occupy her full schedule. In addition, the judo community has been a surprisingly vocal opponent of MMA, and Rousey said that her longtime coach Jimmy Pedro is part of that equation. ‘Rowdy’ opened up about her Pedro’s displeasure with her embarking on a career in MMA.
“He pretty much told me to go [bleep] myself. He didn’t want to help me. He just became one of those disbelievers that I had to prove wrong.”
Winning the Strikeforce bantamweight champion in 2012 and went on to defend her UFC title five times since the world’s predominant MMA promotion incorporated women’s MMA into the fold in early 2013.
She’s accomplished more than any women’s fighter in MMA history in a short time, and it doesn’t appear that she’s going to be threatened anytime soon; that is, unless Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos somehow makes 135 pounds for her anticipated showdown with Rousey.
Her plate is full, and the future is extremely bright for ‘Rowdy,’ even if it doesn’t include another run at Olympic gold. Do you think she has what it takes to be the best in the world on the Olympic stage?
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
