Ronda Rousey Won’t Say She’s Incapable Of Beating Anyone

Undefeated UFC women’s bantamweight champion ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey put herself on an extremely lofty pedestal by defeating Cat Zingano with a devastating 14-second submission in last Saturday’s UFC 184 main event from her native Los Angeles.

The discussion of her ability to defeat male fighters in the UFC immediately arose, and Octagon commentator Joe Rogan only added fuel to the fire by stating that he believed Rousey could beat ’50 percent of the UFC’s male bantamweights.’

It may be a valid argument, it may not, but the bottom line is that it’s an overall fruitless one because we are highly unlikely to see Rousey take on any male fighter in the UFC soon. But that doesn’t mean that the discussion is over and done with, as Rousey took it to the next level during an appearance on ESPN’s The Dan Patrick Show earlier today (Thurs., March 5, 2015):

When asked if she thought she could defeat 50 percent of the UFC’s male bantamweights as Rogan said, Rousey stated that she could theoretically defeat all of them and has a chance to defeat anyone in the world:

“I never say that I’m incapable of beating anybody, because I don’t believe in putting limits on myself,” Rousey said. “So I mean, I would have to say if you’re just talking about what’s in the realm of possibility of what’s possible of who I could beat, well I could beat 100 percent of them. You can’t tell me that there’s a zero percent chance that I can beat anyone on the planet, so I’m never gonna say that.”

Rousey also said she believes that the comparisons of her to male fighters are actually compliments, but they’re ultimately something that she doesn’t view as a serious proposition:

“I’m not offended. I really don’t think that’s serious. I consider it a compliment that people will even consider it.”

As far as her extreme dominance of the still-developing UFC women’s landscape, Rousey is okay with how fast she finishes off her opponents. With her last three title defenses lasting a grand total of 96 seconds, she deems her efficiency as something that will extend her career:

“I want to win with maximum efficiency and minimum effort. People forget that the shorter the fights are, the more fights that I can have. I feel like I’m actually making my career longer this way.”

That may be true, but it’s a bit more a gray area when discussing Rousey’s ability to take on pound-for-pound greats like Jon Jones and Jose Aldo. She gives herself a chance against even the most elite of male fighters, however. Do you?

Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports