After seeing Ronda Rousey knocked out twice, Joe Rogan changes his tune…
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is likely retired after UFC 207. Although she’s far from old, even in MMA years, a few home truths must be considered. After her KO loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, ‘Rowdy’ was already pondering retirement.
After sitting out for over a year, Rousey returned at UFC 207, but there were already concerns about her mental state. Blacking out the media and outright refusing to talk about her loss to Holm, Rousey was not exactly ‘back.’
UFC 207
Returning on December 30, 2017, Rousey looked a shell of her former self. Showing absolutely no improvement in her striking, the ex-champ was crumbled. Amanda Nunes retained the title, and put to rest any hopes of Rousey’s fighting future.
Considering all the fanfare made by the promotion, Rousey’s return was a lead balloon. From Joe Rogan’s perspective, it was a revealing chapter in her career. Speaking during his podcast, as quoted by LowKickMMA, the UFC color commentator takes back some of his praise of ‘Rowdy:’
Rogan Takes Back Man-Beating Statements
“I’m not happy that Ronda Rousey lost but in a way, it makes things easier because there was a bunch of f**kin’ people going, ‘Oh yeah, what about Ronda Rousey?” And I made the mistake saying – hyperbole. I’m the master of hyperbole, I exaggerate all the time – I was like, ‘She could probably beat half the men bantamweights in the UFC.’
“That’s definitely not true. I shouldn’t have said it at the time, now it’s definitely not true. She could beat a few that aren’t good outside the sport. Look, if she gets guys on the ground she could f**k a lot of people up. Her Judo is 100 percent legit, her armbars are amongst the best in the business but people were always saying that… Thank god now that she’s lost everyone’s relaxed with that.”
Crazy Talk?
Rogan’s comments came at a time when pretty much everyone was saying the same thing. Even UFC president Dana White jumped on that bandwagon.
