Saturday, August 13, 2011
Ronda Rousey wastes no time in her Strikeforce debut
Here's the match video for Ronda Rousey vs Sarah D'Alelio from last night's Strikeforce show n Las Vegas. As I expected, Ronda wasted no time hooking the armbar for the win in 25 seconds. Unfortunately, referee Steve Mazzagatti had a brain fart and screwed up the finish. The fighters were told before the fight that any scream during a submission would be interpreted as as a verbal tap and the match would be stopped. The reason for that is some fighters won't tap until the arm breaks. We don't want any broken arms. Safety first, please. Ronda's transition into the armbar was one of the slickest moves I've seen this side of Megumi Fujii. When she applied the armbar, Sarah screamed. It was audible in the arena and Sarah said afterwards that she did scream. And remember she doesn't have to say "tap". She just has to scream in pain. Mazzagatti should have stopped the match right there. Ronda told him Sarah screamed and his reaction was "Oh geez, I forgot" and then he stopped the match. It's not the first time he has looked like an idiot. And you can tell by his body language afterwards that he knew he messed up. Unfortunately, it takes away from Ronda's accomplishment. And the bottom line is that Sarah wasn't getting out of that armbar so it would have been over a few seconds later anyway. Ronda said afterwards that her next fight will be in November. The fight will be at 145lbs. Ronda says she will not drop to 135. She doesn't think she can cut to 135 safely. And she's ripped already. The problem Strikeforce has is 145 has a small pool of fighters. And I haven't seen anyone other than Cris Cyborg who might be able to handle Ronda's quickness. Strikeforce has Julia Budd and Germaine de Randamie under contract. And of course there's Gina Carano but remember Scott Coker said he plans to have Gina drop to 135. Amanda Nunes has a 135lb fight against Alexis Davis on Sept. 10. Others in the 145lb weight class include Shana Olsen, Yoko Takahashi, Romy Ruyssen and HIROKO. And don't forget Olympic alumni Sara McMann and Randi Miller. But the fighter that I like is Cris Cyborg's Chute Boxe teammate Jennifer Maia. Jennifer started out with a 3-0 record as a boxer and then switched to MMA and has a 4-0-1 record. In Brazil she is called the new Cris Cyborg. She could be a very interesting test for Ronda. Enjoy the video!
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Just for the record, I am 1,000% against Ronda dropping to 135. It's a stupid idea. She made 139 (63 kg) for the 2004 Olympics but she has grown 4 inches since then. You can't be healthy, grow 4 inches taller and cut weight. That's just stupid. And Ronda is not stupid.
ReplyDeleteFor those who don't know, Dr. AnnMaria is Ronda Rousey's mom and a celebrated judoka herself. I only bring up 135 because Ronda was asked about it and I get asked about it. And sometimes promoters will ask a fighter to drop a weight class to facilitate matchmaking. Some fighters like Amanda Nunes can fight in both weight classes but I think it would be too much to expect Ronda to do that. And I don't think she should have to do that. You would be amazed at the stuff some folks will suggest without thinking.
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