Rogan on technique, strength and Ronda Rousey
“Just because he’s a man, the physical strength, the benefits of being a male, whatever advantages he may have, aren’t necessarily going to counter the technique.”
The whole point behind Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that it lets a smaller, weaker person defend themselves against a larger, stronger attacker. Proving that point is why the UFC was founded.
Bodybuilding used to be a major sport, and every guy knew what he could bench, and bragged about it, or worried about it. Thanks to mixed martial arts, people have a more sophisticated understanding now of fighting and manhood. No one believes anymore that a good bench and curls is going to do much for you vs. a trained fighter.
However, where Ronda Rousey is concerned, the conversation takes an odd turn. While everyone agrees that being stronger does not guarantee success in a fight, many become certain that the strength possessed by an elite male fighter is so much greater than Ronda Rousey’s that she would be unable to win.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan said recently that Rousey could beat half the male bantamweights in the UFC, and generated an intense discussion. On a recent JRE, he expanded on the comments.
“People got upset when I said that I think she could beat a lot of men in her weight class,” said Rogan as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMAFighting.com. “They don’t know. They’ve never rolled with a girl who is really good.
“Technique is paramount and her technique is so laser sharp. If she got in there with a guy who doesn’t have that good of technique, just because he’s a man, the physical strength, the benefits of being a male, whatever advantages he may have, aren’t necessarily going to counter the technique that she has when they’re the same weight.”
“She competes at 135 pounds. OK, if you deal with her versus a guy at 170 like Johny Hendricks, Jesus, of course that’s a mismatch. Johny Hendricks is a powerful, big strong man and he’d most likely beat her up.
“But talking about a guy who is her weight and then even if he’s physically stronger than her, maybe he can hit harder, but how much of a technical advantage does she have on the ground? She could easily catch you in something in a scramble. Easily. She’s one, two, three, four steps ahead of you.”
“I was talking to Jorge Gurgel about her at the last UFC and he’s like, ‘That’s when I bowed down to Ronda.’ That’s how he said it. Jorge is a BJJ black belt, as well. He was like, ‘Yea, she’s got good armbars but sometimes she does things I don’t agree with. Maybe her knees are a little too wide apart. She’s catching these girls. Maybe she’s catching these girls because they’re not too technical.’
“He goes, ‘When she hit that armbar on Zingano 14 seconds in, look, I gotta bow down. That some high level technique.’ Just the ability to adjust. That language that she has in her head. She’s so articulate with the language of submissions, in her case, armbars.”
Topics in mixed martial arts often descend into disagreement, unfortunately. However, that the refinement of martial arts technique can overcome size and strength alone, is something we should all be able to agree on, and marvel at, and work on.