I came across an article written by Doug Elfman of the Las Vegas Journal where he did an interview with Ronda Rousey. In the interview she made some interesting comments regarding George St-Pierre and why he is so famous. Apparently in Ronda’s world it has nothing to do with being the welterweight champion; it’s deeper than that.
“I respect Georges St. Pierre as a businessman and an athlete,” Rousey says. “I don’t have anything against him personally. But he’s not the kind of fighter I like watching.”
“He fights to win matches. He doesn’t fight to defeat his opponents.”
“Everybody keeps coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh, do you think if you didn’t look such a way, people would like you so much?’
“I’m like, ‘Dude, if GSP was butt ugly, you wouldn’t want to know who he is so much.’
“I think he lucked out a lot that he’s Canadian. I love Canadians. They are the coolest, nicest, most patriotic people, and they will support their countrymen no matter what, and I think that’s commendable.
“But if GSP wasn’t really good-looking, and really Canadian, he would be really unknown.”
“I like fighters that go into it to finish it. They’re not afraid to take risks,” by saying, “I’m going to try to do something crazy, and if I end up in a bad position, I know I can handle it.”
“That confidence gets me excited.”
Does it Ronda? Does it get you excited? When I read that, I scratched my head and wondered if maybe Rousey was spending way too much time conducting safety meetings with the Diaz Brothers. If you want to get the true essence of what Ronda is saying insert the word “like” at the beginning of every quote and every fourth word after that. So like, apparently according to stoner logic, GSP is only famous because he is good looking and Canadian? Yes and it’s probably a gigantic CIA cover up and all our minds are being controlled due to chemical trails in the sky. Eddie Bravo would agree.
I like Ronda Rousey because she states her mind. She gets it. It’s better to be the bad gal and say whatever you want so that when mistakes are made or you say something stupid, people will just shrug it off as Ronda being Ronda, but it shouldn’t be a license to say nonsense…that’s my job.
The best line was, “I think he lucked out a lot that he’s Canadian.” Yes Ronda total luck. The doctors weren’t sure what was going to happen when both his Canadian parents had a baby, I believe some thought he could end up becoming Swedish or Iranian. Actually, he hit the jackpot by being French Canadian and living in a predominantly Anglo country. I mean I bet when he was younger he was constantly reminded of how lucky he was.
“But if GSP wasn’t really good-looking, and really Canadian, he would be really unknown.”
It really is far too easy to poke holes into the validity of this very deep and though provoking theory, but let’s begin with pay-per-view buys. GSP is the biggest PPV draw in the business. Ronda will probably end up headlining the biggest UFC PPV failure of 2013 later in February. We are almost a month out and from what I hear; ticket sales are not exactly a hot item. Don’t get me wrong, I think Ronda is a main event draw if she was fighting the likes of “Cyborg” Santos, but we will allow the UFC to figure that one out on their own.
GSP has beaten the likes of Matt Hughes, Carlos Condit, Jon Fitch, Jake Shields and the list goes on and on. He is the greatest UFC welterweight of all time, and he is in the conversation with Anderson Silva as the greatest fighter EVER. According to Rousey logic, all of that is because he has a pretty face and is from The Great White North.
The “Rowdy” one says that she grew up admiring fighters like BJ Penn who just went into the cage to just scrap and finish fights. That didn’t work too well for Penn at UFC 94 when his corner threw in the towel did it?
I understand what Ronda is saying, she likes fighters who go in there and try to finish fights and not just try to win on points. I don’t see GSP trying to win fights on points alone. He does go into each bout hoping to finish his opponent, the problem is, St-Pierre is fighting top tier talent who are extremely hard to finish, thus why they are top tier talent. Ronda Rousey has beaten who? Miesha Tate? Sarah Kaufmann? Who has Ronda fought that could be comparable to what George has faced over the years?
Yes we are comparing apples to oranges, I get it. Yet maybe that is why Ronda should spend more time in promoting her fight with Liz Carmouche and less time doing interviews about her sex life, celebrity beat downs and the deep analysis on why GSP is champion.
Disrespecting what George has accomplished is not the best foot forward when you were brought into the UFC and given a belt that wasn’t earned in the Octagon. Oh and please can we stop with the “I love Canadians they are cool people…blah, blah blah” kind of comments after bashing a Canadian icon. Let me guess, she has friends that are Canadian?
Being from Canada doesn’t make you an instant star in this sport. In fact there are many Canadian fighters right now who have to scratch, crawl, and scream just to get noticed by UFC brass. Although my country is considered the Mecca of MMA, that hasn’t translated in the UFC bringing over high end Canadian talent to their roster as of yet. Many fighters get passed over so that the UFC can bring in grain fed American wrestlers from big Universities, or former NFL players who are learning the fight game, opposed to “Johnny Canuck” who has been training in MMA from a very young age. Yes there are possibly more Rory MacDonalds among us.
In the end, Ronda Rousey is wrong once again. I don’t dispute her talent and I do like her “say whatever I like” kind of attitude. In fact I have been told I’m the same way. Yet, I have also been told that it truly does take a BS’er to smell another BS’er, and so I’m calling BS!
Maybe some of the logic that Ronda is spewing concerning George is because both Nate Diaz and BJ Penn were beat up pretty bad by GSP’s teammate Rory MacDonald, or maybe it’s because GSP is not a big women’s MMA fan, or maybe it’s because Nick Diaz is set to face George in March. I get it; the club needs to stick together.
Someone needs to sit Ronda down and explain to her simple economics and tact. Don’t crap on the guy who does an amazing job of being an International ambassador for the sport you compete in. Don’t down the man, who if it wasn’t for him and others, you wouldn’t be making nearly the money you are making today.
If I’m Ronda’s manager and I read those comments, I would be on the phone advising her to maybe not start the UFC career off by downing the top dog in the promotion. It will just make those future UFC media and fan appearances alongside George a tad awkward.
Ronda has star power and the “it” factor that Dana White has proclaimed many times to the UFC fandom world. In the end, the harsh reality of it all is women’s MMA is currently an experiment in the UFC. Like Dana said, none of this is guaranteed to work. They don’t need women in the Octagon. Don’t get me wrong, I personally believe there is a place for them, but if they don’t make the promotion any money, and if there continues to be lack of depth, they are not going to last.
Rousey is the face of WMMA for now. If she thinks that she will always just walk into a cage and arm bar her opponent to an easy victory she will be in for a rude awakening. Things will evolve and there will be a few ladies who will emerge who will be major threats to Ronda’s throne. It will be interesting to see how she performs with the big lights, the new stage, and against a woman who is training every minute Rousey is doing interviews and dropping upon us enlightenment.
In the end I’m wondering where my UFC title is? I’m easy on the eyes and Canadian, so Ronda what gives eh?
_________________________________________
Follow Trevor on Twitter @TDueckMMA and keep up with the latest from MMASucka on Twitter @MMASucka and ‘like’ us on Facebook
