Whether with words or action, Rousey bides time to strike back
GLENDALE — Having made an indelible mark with her supreme domination inside the caged confines of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s octagon, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey hasn’t let a moment in front of the microphone go to waste without making an impact, either.
Thus, on Wednesday at The ESPYs, in which she was voted “Female Athlete of the Year” and “Best Fighter” – the latter for the first time — she had some choice words that turned into a sound bite played by myriad media outlets big and small.
PHOTOS: Ronda Rousey press conference for upcoming fight against Bethe Correia
“I wonder how Floyd [Mayweather] feels being beat by a woman for once,” said Rousey, referencing pound-for-pound boxing kingpin Floyd Mayweather, a former winner of the best fighter award who has also been charged multiple times in relation to domestic abuse. “I’d like to see you pretend to not know who I am now.”
A year prior, Mayweather had been asked about Rousey and said he “didn’t know who he was.”
Roughly 24 hours later inside a sweltering Glendale Fighting Club, Rousey, the undefeated reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion, held court at a media day with the first question coming in regards to her comments about Mayweather.
“After the ESPYs last year and what he said, I was biding my time for the right time to respond,” said Rousey, 28, who’s trained at GFC under coach Edmond Tarverdyan for the duration of her mixed martial arts career. “I know for damn sure that he knew who I was because he was running against me for best fighter that year and [as a promoter] he has signed MMA fighters, so his feigned ignorance was meant to be really a snarky remark to me.
“I’m a patient girl and I wanted to respond at the most appropriate time where I thought that I could make the biggest impression that I’m not the kind of chick you make snarky remarks about.”
The comments caught fire and the timing seemingly couldn’t have been better.
“Yeah, I thought I’d get a big reaction,” Rousey said. “And I’ve got a fight to sell, so great timing.”
Biding her time to exact her revenge for some unfriendly words is a theme that assuredly applies to her upcoming title defense Aug. 1 in Brazil at UFC 190 when she squares off with Bethe Correia (9-0, 3-0 in UFC).
“Revenge is a dish best served cold. I try my best not to be impulsive with those kind of things,” Rousey (11-0, 5-0 in UFC) said. “A methodical enemy is the worst kind to have. If people are trying to say things to get a white-hot reaction out of me, I try to do the opposite and react at the time that benefits me the most.”
Correia made news in May when speaking to Brazilian publication Combate about the upcoming fight.
“When she realizes she is not everything that she believes she is,” Correia stated, “I don’t know what might happen. I hope she does not kill herself later.”
Rousey was only 8 when her father took his life after a broken back and a subsequent blood disorder. Thus, the comments by Correia have fueled Rousey’s disdain for her opponent even more so.
“This is definitely the most personal fight that I’ve ever had. Making such tasteless remarks about suicide when she knows how it has affected me in my past,” Rousey said. “I don’t mind taking things on myself because this is my job and I chose it.
“When it starts to affect and insult my family, that’s when I know an example must be made.”
Correia had already done her best to incite Rousey or vault herself into title contention — or both — when she defeated Rousey’s former training partners and close friends Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler in UFC bouts. Along with Marina Shafir, the foursome long ago took to calling itself “The Four Horsewomen.” After each win, Correia would hold up four fingers and put one down.
“I didn’t like her before, because of the way that she disrespected Jessamyn and Shayna after she beat them,” Rousey said. “But that was still understandable from a marketing point of view. Those girls chose that career and they chose to put themselves in that situation and they opened themselves up to that. I would be more understanding of that. I was still, I wasn’t going to let it go unchecked, because I’m Mama Bear and I just can’t let anyone poke at my cubs. But when it got to the point to where she was laughing at the subject of suicide and how it really profoundly affected my whole family, that’s when it really went too far.
“I will definitely get more satisfaction out of this win than anyone before.”
In front of a media gathering larger than any before at a GFC media day, questions about Correia, an overwhelming underdog, were actually somewhat in the minority, as quandaries about Mayweather and the ESPYs, a potential bout with Cris “Cyborg” Justino, Rousey’s budding movie career, being a role model, women’s sports and seemingly everything but Rousey’s impending title clash were thrown at the undisputed champion. But as has been commonplace throughout a career of unprecedented versatility and compartmentalizing, Rousey didn’t hesitate to verbalize where her focus lies, when asked what the next step was in growing her career.
“Next step is to beat Bethe Correia on Aug. 1st,” Rousey said. “I can’t really allow myself to revel in any of it until I beat her.”