Eye: Women shouldn’t be in P4P rankings
Jessica Eye: “I don’t think the women should be in the pound-for-pound I really don’t. I think we should be in our own division, pound-for-pound.”
The UFC has an official pound for pound ranking, that is not good for anything but getting but getting people to talk. In that regard however, it excels. Ronda Rousey is on the list, at #7.
1. Jon Jones
2. Jose Aldo
3. Demetrious Johnson
4. Chris Weidman
5. Anthony Pettis
6. Cain Velasquez
7. Ronda Rousey
8. TJ Dillashaw
9. Anderson Silva
10. Robbie Lawler
What does that mean?
Jon Jones is #1 and Jose Aldo is #2, which means that if they were the same size, Jones would likely beat Aldo. This determination is made by looking at how dominant the champion is, and for how long, the depth of the division, and the champion’s perceived skill level.
What does it mean the Ronda Rousey is #7 and TJ Dillashaw is #8? Do you factor in sex the same as you factor in size? If TJ Dillashaw was a woman he would not be able to beat Rousey (they are the same size after all).
If you go by divisional dominance. Ronda is the greatest champion in the sport’s history. But the women’s bantamweight division does not have the depth that say the men’s lightweight division does.
So it is murky. Top women’s contender Jessica Eye spoke with Rick Lee and said Ronda should probably not be on the top 10 list at all.
“Listen, I am 100 percent sold on the fact that this sport, as a female, I don’t ever want to do it without the men,” said Eye as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAfighting. “I don’t ever want the men to feel like we’re in competition with them. It’s kind of a hard situation when you ask those pound for pounds.”
“I don’t think the women should be in the pound-for-pound [rankings]. I really don’t. I think we should be in our own division, pound-for-pound.”
“I can train with (men) and compete with them but no, man. They’re men. Come on. Let’s not screw up what we know already. Men have testosterone. I go with these 125ers and these guys are fast. If they really wanted to put it on me, they would put it on us. I think they are kind of losing sight of what we already know and that’s that they’re men.
“They have testosterone. We’re women. We have estrogen. There’s that difference. If guys want to put it on us and beat us up they can. Come on now. Who we kidding?”
In other Eye news, the UFC announced via Twitter that Eye, Rousey, and UFC president Dana White will be at the SxSW (South by Southwest) annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin. That would seem to indicate that Bethe Correia is out vs. Rousey, and that Eye will be fighting Rousey, or Correia in a #1 contender fight.
“I leave on Friday to go to (SxSW) with Ronda and Dana for the whole weekend,” said Eye. “I feel like both of us being at (SxSW)] for the weekend with the three of each other, plus my manager’s going to come, I think some serious negotiating is going to happen over this weekend.”
