Christophr - How is her butterfly guard?
She actually shows a butterfly sweep in her moms book. 
Cyborg won the worlds but not a black belt. Rhonda would probably smash at purple though, doubt she wins black just yet in the gi but would be competitive.
I'm sure Rhonda's grappling with a gi is light years ahead of her no gi. She submitted a bjj black belt in 25 seconds in her mma debut. Not saying she should get a bjj black belt unless her school pays to join the IBBJF and Gokar pays the fees to have his black belt registered to promote her, but she would smash the mundials at black belt.
krept -BigEyedFish - being good in another grappling art =/= knowing bjj
its not about how well someone can tap someone or stop a tap. Its about knowing and becoming proficient in the BJJ curriculum. Otherwise every NCAA or olympic wrestler would/could be a BJJ BB. Ridiculous discussion IMO.
The evidence is the ease in which many of her competitors have achieved superior positions on her
This is really it.
If we had to create an artificial distinction between people who A) are superior at grappling and B) know the techniques of BJJ, B is the group deserving of the belt.
In reality, those who really know the techniques in BJJ should be superior at grappling but many times there are nuances such as strength or age that inhibit their ability to perform against others.
If grappling ability were the measure, then an NCAA champ could probably tap out non-competitive browns and black belts. But should he even teach a kids *BJJ* class? That's the slippery slope with "honorary" rankings IMO. If the NCAA wrestler teaches a mount escape by bench pressing someone off, it is different than a TKD or JJJ black belt teaching the same?
Tyson gets a BB in every striking art because he can KTFO most instructors?
I see BJJ entering a fantasy land that rewards rank to bureaucrats and know it alls as opposed to promoting people who genuinely know how to grapple.
How many BJJ women are biting at the opportunity to make easy money by choking out Ronda when she turns her back. She plays the way she does because her defense is clearly solid.
But people will STILL say she's not good because she PROBABLY doesn't understand BJJ technique. Seriously? Completely ignoring the fact that there are dozens of BJJ black belts who have one comps but still can't explain technique themselves, we don't even know what Ronda knows. She might know amazing guard passes or sweeps or whatever else BJJers do that Judo players don't.
Of course, it would be silly to assume we have seen Ronda's full grappling ability in a few MMA fights,....even though she tapped out a BJJ black belt already.
Still, imagine if we judged Marcelo's grappling ability on his one MMA fight.
Bottom line is we won't know until she enters a grappling comp but we can kind of guess how she'd do since she tapped a Jiu Jitsu black belt already.
Mackenzie Dern by whatever she wants
there is a difference between "can she compete with BJJ BBs" and "is she a BJJ BB". The two statements are worlds apart and they are being intermixed in this thread.
one refers to competition ability (which Obv RR is up to); the other refers to the complete understanding/mastery of a particular curriculum (which RR does not posses).
Dont confuse the two - theyre different.
BJJRoxy -Let her have a Gi match against Luanna Alzuguir or Hannette Staack. I don't think she would fare well.
Since when is this the standard for BJJ BB? That's like saying to be a NCAA Div 1 wrestler you have to be able to do well against Chael Sanderson.
I'm sure she would do just fine against the majority of women BJJ black-belts out there. The real question is if she knows the techniques--and I at least wouldn't be too hung up on whether they were "orthodox" BJJ moves or not.
Ryron Gracie said in an interview that he has trained Jiu-Jitsu with Rhonda recently and it was almost as if she was a black belt in the way she rolled.
BigEyedFish - there is a difference between "can she compete with BJJ BBs" and "is she a BJJ BB". The two statements are worlds apart and they are being intermixed in this thread.
one refers to competition ability (which Obv RR is up to); the other refers to the complete understanding/mastery of a particular curriculum (which RR does not posses).
Dont confuse the two - theyre different.
Okay. Imma play devils advocate again.
You said does she meet the standards of a specific criteria? Give me an example of what this criteria is.
I ask because you are implying there is an aspect of grappling (gi or no gi) that you are certain Ronda is deficient in and I am curious as to what you think that is.
BigEyedFish - there is a difference between "can she compete with BJJ BBs" and "is she a BJJ BB". The two statements are worlds apart and they are being intermixed in this thread.
one refers to competition ability (which Obv RR is up to); the other refers to the complete understanding/mastery of a particular curriculum (which RR does not posses).
Dont confuse the two - theyre different.
according to whom?
Animal Mother -Hunter V - She has no bjj rank and if she had on a belt its because it was needed for a photo op. Hell bjj guys wear mizuno black belts all the time and nobody thinks they are judo black belts, people are reading waaaaay too much into things.
And LOL @ someone saying she could not win her weight in a purple or brown division at the Mundials. She is an actual world class competitor with serious grappling skills. I am not handing her a gold medal automatically but you are a idiot if you think she could not be MORE than competitive at that level of competition which is tiny as shit as compared to judo.So is Rick Hawn, just saying.
You can't compare the depth of men's BJJ with women's.
Anyway, if Ari has a brown belt . . .
Animal Mother -She would get tapped by a guard pulling competitive purple at competition just like Rick Hawn, why would this be surprising?
Well, when I look at what female Cyborg has accomplished, after seeing her match with Gina, I can't say it speaks well for the female depth at purple belt.
BandakaKush - Ryron Gracie said in an interview that he has trained Jiu-Jitsu with Rhonda recently and it was almost as if she was a black belt in the way she rolled.
Calibur1980,
I understand what you are saying. I did not comment on her grappling ability at all; it's far above mine.
I think this quote provides a perfect illustration. She may be at the black belt LEVEL but I bet you Ryron would not give her a blue belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu until a) she has either attended each of the Combatives classes 2x-3x times or b) she tested for it.
Gracie Academy even stated that even a verified black belt in BJJ would have to test at each level to see if those details are present before being awarded the GJJ belt.
There are many pitfalls with the ability-based approach and while it carries weight, it's clearly not fair in other times, like how well Helio in his 90s would have done against a competition super pesado blue belt. It's fun to wonder how Karelin would do in ADCC but I wouldn't send my son to learn BJJ from him.
Once we see the drawbacks of basing belts solely off of ability we see the benefit of using curriculum. More often than not if curriculum is NOT used, it makes we wonder if the school even has one.
As much as I love Rick Hawn, you have to stop using him as some sort of baseline of judo grappling. He was tachiwaza player and his best technique was ippon seionage.
Calibur1980 -BigEyedFish - there is a difference between "can she compete with BJJ BBs" and "is she a BJJ BB". The two statements are worlds apart and they are being intermixed in this thread.
one refers to competition ability (which Obv RR is up to); the other refers to the complete understanding/mastery of a particular curriculum (which RR does not posses).
Dont confuse the two - theyre different.Okay. Imma play devils advocate again.
You said does she meet the standards of a specific criteria? Give me an example of what this criteria is.
I ask because you are implying there is an aspect of grappling (gi or no gi) that you are certain Ronda is deficient in and I am curious as to what you think that is.
Specific criteria would be any curriculum taught by a BB at an academy. I think its tough to quantify. Im not certain Ronda is deficient, Im just unaware of her education at a BJJ academy. I just dont think you can get to BB in BJJ without studying BJJ for ~5-12 years(depending on the circumstances). Maybe she has and I just dont know about it.
My only point was that being a good grappler/wrestler doesnt mean that you have amassed an education in BJJ specifically. I doesnt mean you are bad at grappling or you cant hang with this person or that person. Its just a technical thing.
Hey if Ryron did infact say she was at that level, then he must know something I dont :)
I just read what krept said.
He illustrated my POV better than I did.
bravo.
And Im not trying to take a shot at RR at all. I really respect her ability. I love watching her fight.
Why does she need a BJJ black belt?
The Mat Pimp - Why does she need a BJJ black belt?
Haha I think that is the question that started the thread! She is a world class judoka in every sense of the word, yet in the photo op she was given a BJJ BB (with the bar when Judo has none).
As someone mentioned, she may not have brought one so it could be a prop in that context. Or someone could have awarded her one, which I think is what the OP was asking. I don't think there is an inference she is otherwise trying to pretend to be a BJJ BB even though she may be at that level as a grappler. 
The Mat Pimp - Why does she need a BJJ black belt?
Excellent question. On Joe Rogan's podcast Eddie asked her how her Jiu jitsu got so good and she shut him up by saying "I don't do jiu jitsu."
There's just this assumption that throws equals judo. GnP equals wrestling, and subs from the bottom equal BJJ.
In my opinion, good grappling is just good grappling and Ronda exemplifies it and BJJ exemplifies well rounded grappling at an individuals discretion sooooo if she got a black belt I wouldn't care.
Let's be real, this isn't a question on whether or not she has the skill. This is a question on whether or not she's a part of our little club. Has she paid enough dues to BJJ (literally and figuratively) to get a title that, frankly, she doesn't need, and probably doesn't even want.
All the curriculum talk is silly to me. No pragmatic sport has a curriculum. Boxers don't know a hundred different punches. Their ability is dependent on how sharp their jab is. How coordinated their foot work is.
BJJ was great for a reason and the best of the best improve inspite of curriculum, not because of it. The greatest in the world did not come up using a curriculum. They just honed their skills. How many black belt mundials champs had a belt test? If you want good BJJ, that's not what people do.
While a logical progression, an increased amount of moves, and belt tests are great for business and making Yuppies feel like they're making progress, that's not what made BJJ successful, and that's not what you would use to test whether or not Ronda is good at "BJJ." (whatever that means to whoever's reading thais.)
Belts in this "sport" are arbitrary. They were arbitrary before the sport got to America. We need to stop pretending it's not, and start acknowledging that unless we have the experience and the personal time with another grappler, we have NO IDEA what level they could be at.
Just my opinion.