Whether you like it or not, Ronda Rousey is headlining the UFC 157 fight card on February 23.
Many fans and critics alike have heckled UFC President Dana White for making Rousey vs. Liz Carmouch the main event with stars like Urijah Faber, Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson on the undercard. Following many years of people asking White to change his mind on bringing women into the organization, he has finally decided to do it and now they don’t like it?
White doesn’t care what the people are saying. He made his point clear about making Rousey the main event of the UFC 157 PPV following last nights TUF 16 Finale post-fight press conference.
“It’s not ‘Hey pony up $55’, she’s the champ. You will never see a situation in any fight – whether man, woman, the lightest weight division it is. If you’re the champion you’re the headliner; you’re the top of the card.”
Other women in the same division as Rousey claimed that they wanted to fight her. More specifically, Miesha Tate, she told ‘The MMA Hour’ that she was never offered the fight.
“If they would have said, ‘Hey, you want to fight Ronda in the UFC? You want to headline a UFC card for the first fight in history for women?’ I would have been like, hell yeah. But it wasn’t offered to me.”
Liz Carmouche is the fighter who will be taking on Rousey in the main event. According to White, she is the only fighter who stepped up to the plate.
“Ronda Rousey is bad ass, she’s the champ. Her opponent stepped up to the plate and wanted this fight with her when others didn’t. I don’t give a shit what they say, that’s a fact.”
Tate made mention that she feels the UFC is ‘putting all their eggs in one basket’ with Rousey in the women’s division. There is no doubt about that and White agrees with the fact that Rousey is a star and the one that got the women into the UFC.
“People are like, ‘It’s the Ronda Rousey show.’ You’re f—ing right it’s the Ronda Rousey show. She’s a huge star, she gets more media than anyone else out there and she’s the reason that I was interested in doing this. She’s mean, she’s nasty and she likes to finish people. She’s the one who got this thing kickstarted and got me interested in it.”
If you’re worried about bucking up the $55 for the PPV, White isn’t worried about the headliner being the only thing to draw combat sports enthusiasts attention.
“There’s a great card underneath it, so it’s a great night of fights no matter who’s headlining.”
Rousey vs. Carmouche will headline UFC 157 on February 23 from The Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Also on the card is “The California Kid” Urijah Faber who is set to take on Ivan Menjivar and a possible number one contender match-up in the light heavyweight division between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida.
