Ronda Rousey On Gina Carano: She Could Be My Biggest Challenge
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey remains at the top of the division, and it will likely stay that way until at least 2015. “Rowdy” has defended her belt three times since December 2013, finishing Miesha Tate, Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis in quick succession. It appears that a break is on the cards for the dangerous women’s boss.
This hasn’t stopped the talk of who she will face next though, and one name has popped up in conversation quite a bit lately. I’m talking about former Strikeforce women’s champ Gina Carano. “Crush” is being hunted by UFC brass at present, although nothing is set in stone just yet. Speaking with Bloodyelbow.com, Rousey discusses the potential fight with Carano:
“I think Gina is the worst style match up for me actually. One of the reasons why I’ve been so excited to fight her, was because she has that feeling of distance, and that feeling of timing, and mobility to put those touches in her punches where she has that one punch knockout power.”
Rousey’s statement is quite the opposite to the common opinion. Indeed, most fans believe that Carano going in to an immediate title shot against Rousey would be suicide. After losing by TKO to “Cyborg” in 2009, Carano has moved her focus to acting. A return would be a feat in itself, but an immediate title shot does seem a rather tall order.
“There’s a lot of other girls that they’re strong, but they don’t have that feeling. So they overwhelm people and they only get TKOs. There’s none of that one punch knockout power, and that’s the kind of thing that you don’t lose. It’s that kind of thing that stays with you even if you take time off. I think styles do make fights, and style wise, Gina is the absolute worst match up for me. That’s why I’ve been wanting to fight her for a while, because she could be one of my biggest challenges.”
“She’s been the one insisting on fighting at 135, so yeah, I would love to fight her at 135. I prefer that, definitely. I feel like there’s where I’m at my athletic peak.”
After a rumoured move to Bellator MMA was shot down by Scott Coker, the reason was revealed that Carano was aiming for fights at 135 pounds. Obviously there really isn’t anyone around at women’s bantamweight right now, due to “Rowdy” clowning the divisional top contenders in recent outings.
It would seem that Carano vs Rousey will take place if “Crush” is eventually signed by the UFC, but the reality is that the former Strikeforce champ should at least take a tune up fight. A win over Rousey would be absolutely huge given her five year absence, but history should tell you that is highly unlikely. Given Rousey’s recent form, and how active she’s been, I fail to see how it would be anything other than a high profile squash match. What do you think?
