UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes that Ronda Rousey would beat Floyd Mayweather if the two were to fight.
Rogan was a guest on ESPN2’s “SportsNation” Tuesday and was asked about the hypothetical matchup between the women’s MMA champ and undefeated boxer — a topic that became a popular discussion a few months ago.
Rogan broke down the fight and explained why he thinks Rousey would win.
“It’s all about how much time Floyd has to prepare, because he will really have to work on his takedown defense. That would be the big thing,” said Rogan. “If Ronda got a clinch on him, it’s not just about worrying about being taken down to the ground, it’s worrying about knees to the body. It is worrying about her manipulating his body in ways that he doesn’t understand.”
Rogan said it would take six months to a year of Floyd training with the best trainers in the world to get his grappling to a point where he would be able to contend with Rousey. He also said point-blank when asked that he thought Rousey would win the fight.
“It’s too hard to avoid the clinch. If you watch a Floyd Mayweather fight, they very rarely end in a one-punch knockout. He has brittle hands. His hands break. You are talking about small gloves where hands are going to break even easier. She keeps her chin tucked, hands high and gets a hold of you. There is going to be a lot of things she is doing that he doesn’t understand.”
Rogan was very measured with his analysis of the hypothetical, saying that he only believes Rousey would win that fight now. He allowed that Mayweather could win a fight between them in the future if he had time to train in MMA.
Though some people think this is an absurd thing to say, I agree with everything Rogan said. Boxing is only one discipline of MMA, and it’s not the most effective one in a fight where everything else is allowed. Once an MMA fighter gets a takedown on a boxer, it’s game over. And I think Rousey would be able to get a takedown and beat an untrained Floyd.
Glove touch to Bloody Elbow
