LeBell: Rousey disappointed she didn’t break Correia’s arm, leg, or neck
Gene LeBell: “She wanted to beat this gal up, and she said, ‘I wasn’t through, I wanted to break something, an arm or a leg or neck’. But John McCarthy broke it up.”
Bethe Correia insulted the family and friends of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey for months. ‘Rowdy’ left Bethe faceplanted on an ad for Straight Outta Compton, but according to mentor Gene LeBell, Rousey wanted more.
“I think she was a little disappointed,” said LeBell on a recent edition of The MMA hour, as transcribed by Dave Doyle for MMAFighting.com. “She wanted to beat this gal up, and she said, ‘I wasn’t through, I wanted to break something, an arm or a leg or neck’. But John McCarthy broke it up because she was unconscious. But she said, ‘well, I proved a point.’ She’s happy, so I’m happy.”
The hardcore fanbase will be happiest when Rousey fights Cris ‘Cyborg’, a prospect that LeBell expressed no fear of.
“Cyborg is a great, great fighter, probably the third-best in the world in women’s fighters,” said LeBell. “Ronda of course is the best, Miesha Tate is the second best. I’d like to see Miesha Tate fight Cyborg without steroids. Cyborg is a great fighter, but she’s not in Ronda’s class.”
“Cyborg is extremely physically strong. She’s a good fighter. I might sound prejudiced, but if it took [Rousey] three rounds, that’s okay. I think she would dominate her entirely. That isn’t taking her away from her.”
‘Judo’ Gene, now 83, felt a welter of emotions last week, with ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey winning just a day after the death of his friend ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper.
“He was wrestling professionally at 16, when you’re supposed to be 18,” explained LeBell. “He worked out with me for 30 years. He wanted to really be able to wrestle, and he was, in my opinion, not only a great showman, but one of the best real wrestler who ever stepped into the squared circle. This man can box, wrestle, finishing holds, he could do everything, I even got him into motorcycle racing. Whatever he did, he was the best. Great guy.”
“Ronda said ‘I want to use name Rowdy’, and Roddy Piper had it trademarked, so we got a hold of Roddy, and he said, ‘you can use my name or anything else you want.’ That’s the kind of guy he was. Ronda still uses name ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey. Tears came to my eyes when she announced after the fight I’m dedicating the fight to my friend ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper.”
In sum, LeBell holds Ronda Rousey in the highest esteem.
“From four years ago, not having hardly money to put in her car, and she spent a little time living in her car,” he said. “If you read her book, she’s been on both sides of road. Nobody, no one deserves the accolades as much as she does, she works at it. When you talk to her, she looks you right in the eyes and she listens. She’s the most dedicated student or person that’s ever got on the mat with me. There’s no break or timeout, let’s go get a sandwich. It’s all business in anything she does.”