Ronda Rousey doesn’t just beat her opponents, she dominates them. The UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion has won all 10 of her UFC fights by knockout, with nine of the wins coming in the first round. Her most recent fight lasted just 16 seconds. Does Rousey’s ferocity remind you of a certain famous boxer?
Some have argued that Rousey’s dominance is bad for women’s mixed martial arts, as people will become bored if she is not challenged. When discussing that issue recently, Rousey pointed out that no one got bored with Mike Tyson.
“Mike Tyson had some serious competition too, don’t forget. It wasn’t always easy,” Rousey told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. “People knew from those fights to get there immediately. You never know what’s going to happen in one of my fights, either. That’s the advantage I have over my opponents and what draws the fans in so much. From the second my fight starts to the second it’s over, nobody sits down.”
[WATCH: Ronda Rousey knocks out Alexis Davis in 16 seconds]
UFC boss Dana White shared some similar thoughts, also comparing Rousey’s fights to Tyson’s.
“(That’s) like saying they should have had some better fights for Mike Tyson,” White said. “The Tyson era was one of the most awesome eras in boxing history.
“You hear Ronda Rousey’s last fight went 16 seconds and you’re like, ‘Sixteen seconds?’ But what she did in those 16 seconds was un … believable. For 16 seconds, she traded punches, knocked [Alexis Davis] out with one, caught her under her arm, kneed her to the stomach, threw her and then hit her with about 15 punches. That all happened in 16 seconds.”
Tyson won 50 of his 58 fights, and 44 of those wins came via knockout. Rousey has a long way to go before she can be compared to one of the greatest champions of all time, but we see the point. UFC fans boo mercilessly when fighters dance around for 15 minutes before making an actual attempt to hit their opponent or take them down. Complaining about Rousey’s dominance makes no sense.
