As I'm watching it something becomes abundantly clear that I didn't recognize the first time I watched it, Rhonda Rousey is one tough motherfucker, she kept eating straight lefts but never gave up despite being completely outclassed, another thing became clear also and it was her body and she was clearly not in championship shape, contrast that with this time and it's not even close , she looks like a straight up monster and she just might show the world tonight who the alpha chic is but if she hasn't at the very least learned to circle away from a persons power hand then she's in trouble.
She looks to be in great shape but BJ and Chuck were both in great shape for their last fights and it didn't turn out well for either.
Yep, she kept coming. She even wobbled Holly once
She looked like an angry drunk staggering forward eating shots. No intelligence or strategy. All pride.
What seemed clear is she couldnt bridge the gap quick enough to get within distance to trade punches with Holmes. Simple head movements to slip a punch would have made her less of an easy target.
Hitting mitts and sparring with headgear will not get your there if your coach didnt prepare you to utilize head movement for someone with less of an arm reach.
Unless her camp has made some very huge changes in this area, I would believe her only only chance is to try and weather some initial shots and catch Nunes in a quick transition to arm bar, otherwise Nunes will retain that belt...
stevekt - She looks to be in great shape but BJ and Chuck were both in great shape for their last fights and it didn't turn out well for either.Chuck looked awesome, his chin was shot.
Fury2Feed - She looked like an angry drunk staggering forward eating shots. No intelligence or strategy. All pride.
True. But at least she showed heart, which, come on, many of her antics can make us doubt. And she DID rock Holm too. It was mostly a one sided affair but she still tried. Most don't. But then most know that it can be a sound strategy to grab, hold on, try to gain time to clear the cobwebs when hurt.
Holm was the first opponent Rousey had faced that came from a big name, successful team. Holly was 100% confident that she was prepared for everything Ronda would use and she was composed enough to stick to the plan and execute. All Rondas previous opponents, once in the cage didn't seem to know exactly how they were gonna win and looked more concerned with avoiding Rondas strengths than capitalising on their own.
Nunes also comes from a top team with experienced coaches and training partners and she also seems to be very self assured and confident enough in her skills to engage Ronda while staying composed enough to see Ronda coming and not just try to defend it but counter it.
Either that or Rousey by armbar. And I'm an MMA fan so I'm automatically qualified to analyse and assess all thing mma.
Agreed, Ronda wasn't given enough credit for her chin. She ate some big shots before the kick that put her on the canvas for good.
Plus, she was so distracted going into that fight due to so many obligations outside of training. That was her choice. She seemed to gobble up the Hollywood spotlight.
Different story entirely going into the fight with Amanda. Ronda has been laser focused, so there should be no excuses if she loses to Nunes (unless word comes that Ronda was injured during her camp and decided to press on with the fight despite it -- hope not).
Ronda thought she was invincible when she fought Holm. I expect her to fight much smarter this time.
Unless Ronda is hiding an injury, I expect to see the best version of her yet. That's what every true mma fan should be hoping for. I feel like I was watching a shell of Ronda in her last fight.
Fury2Feed - She looked like an angry drunk staggering forward eating shots. No intelligence or strategy. All pride.
This. lol
Such a satisfying match to re-watch.
man that fight is still so good. i could rewatch that every day. especially with the edmund running commentary!
I just rewatched it as well and fuck you can see the differ in the cornering. Edmund is all beautiful champ and Greg Jackson is actually giving actual coaching. Why Ronda stays with that tool and doesn't go to a real camp is insane.