With the latest headlines surrounding the prospect of a Mayweather vs. McGregor match, it seems the MMA World has all but forgotten about the future of longtime Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey.
After suffering her second straight TKO loss to Amanda Nunes, many have speculated about Rousey’s next move in her career. Joe Rogan offered his own take on her future during his podcast. “I don’t think she is (going to fight again),” Rogan said. “Amanda Nunes is a very, very dangerous puncher. She kicks and punches so f—in hard, and she has long arms. She puts you on the end of those long punches, and she dinged Ronda very early in the fight, and you could tell she was rocked.”
Rogan believes if she does make a comeback, it will have to be more tactical than before and that she shouldn’t pursue an immediate title shot the way she did with Nunes. “If she does, she should come back in a calculated manner,” Rogan said. “Don’t just rush in and fight for the title like she did. I think that’s crazy. Taking a year off taking a head kick getting knocked out – where’s your head at? Was she 100 percent committed to this as far as training for the entire time off, or did she just get in really good shape over the last few months and had she been training at all before then?”
Rousey has yet to formally comment on her MMA future.
Cervantes Analysis: Rousey can definitely make another comeback, but Rogan is right about needing to be more calculated about it. She returned after a year away and threw herself in there with arguably the best striker in the division and was soundly defeated in the same way she was with Holly Holm. In addition to not jumping into a title fight, she’ll need to make drastic changes in her coaching staff by firing Edmund Traverdyan and actually consulting a real boxing coach who knows what they are doing. Sometimes the sport passes fighters up because of their failure to evolve. That’s what happened in the Nunes fight, but Rousey still has the time and the talent to learn from this loss and make the necessary changes to regain her title. The path will just be longer than she was hoping for.
SATURDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…
-Anderson Silva said that Mayweather vs. McGregor would be a close fight, according to MMA Fighting.
-B.J. Penn told MMA Junkie that he told Dana White: “I want to show everybody who the real hero is in the UFC,” ahead of his return to fighting tomorrow night.
-According to Bloody Elbow, Dominick Cruz said regarding Cody Garbrandt: “He knows I am better than him.”
NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: FRIDAY NEWS DIGEST 1/13: White offers $25 million to Mayweather plus PPV points to fight McGregor (w/Cervantes Analysis)
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