Following the announcement that UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey would next be defending her title against former women’s boxing champion and undefeated contender Holly Holm, UFC commentator Joe Rogan went on a rant about a lack of talent in the UFC women’s divisions.
Rogan sounded off about the Rousey-Holm match during a recent edition of his Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
“I don’t agree with that fight,” Rogan said. “That Holly Holm fight. I don’t think that’s smart. I would have gone with Amanda Nunes before Holly Holm. Amanda Nunes looked like a badass when she knocked out Sara McMann. That’s a more dangerous fighter. A more marketable fighter. [Holm] is only the best boxer in the world if Ann Wolf decides not to box.”
As far as the style breakdown, Rogan credits Holm with having better stand-up than most women Rousey has faced, but still doesn’t seem sold on Holm as a legitimate threat to the champion.
“Yea, I don’t know,” said Rogan. “The Holly Holm fight is not as intriguing to me as Amanda Nunes would be. [Holm’s] big issue is the grappling. Who knows, though? You never know. Maybe Holly, because her standup is so much more refined, she’s been doing it for so much longer, maybe she can keep Ronda away from her. I’m serious. I just think, honestly, the real problem is that there’s a lack of talent.”
Rogan thinks Rousey is going to have to go the extra mile to challenge herself due to the lack of depth in her division, comparing it to Roy Jones Jr. playing basketball on the day of one of his big fights.
“Ronda’s going to have to do things now. She’ll have to do a judo match during the day and then have an MMA fight. Remember when Roy Jones Jr. would play basketball? He played basketball the day of a world title defense. The day of.”
From there, Rogan would go into the Rousey-Mike Tyson comparison, explaining how Tyson’s situation was different than the one Rousey is facing now.
“Bruce Seldon was a legit, world-class heavyweight,” said Rogan. “[Tyson’s competition] were really good fighters. The real problem with those guys is that they were fighting Tyson. The real problem with Ronda is that Ronda is like a Mike Tyson. She’s the elite of the elite. Those girls? No. They’re good. She’s great. They’re amongst the best.
“I think Amanda Nunes has real potential. If you look at Claudia Gadelha, she’s world-class. Joanna Jedrzejczyk, world-class. There’s a few. Cris Cyborg, steroids or no steroids, take away the controversy, go by her performances, ferocious. That’s four. There’s four of them.”
Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship headlines UFC 195 on Saturday, January 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
H/T: MMAFighting.com
