In 2015 Ronda Rousey had won three title defenses in 34 seconds and was the third most Google searched person on the planet (#4 was Donald Trump). There was never anything like that in mixed martial arts, and never will be again. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan was driven to say Rousey could beat half the male bantamweights in the league.
A giant squawk of protest arose from the sport and eventually died down. But on a recent episode of the JRE, Rogan amiably conceded it wasn’t so, and attributed the remarks to hyperbole.
I’m not happy that Ronda Rousey lost,” began Rogan, as transcribed by Anton Tabuena for BE. “But in a way, it makes things easier because there was a bunch of f***king people that were going, ‘Oh yeah, what about Ronda Rousey? She’d beat… And I made the mistake of 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.’
No, that’s definitely not true. I shouldn’t have said it at the time, said Rogan with a laugh. 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*** a lot of people up. Her Judo is 100% legit, her armbars are amongst the best in the business, but people were always saying that. Now that she’s lost everyone’s relaxed with that.
The discussion about Rousey’s relative merits as a fighter is apparently yesterday’s news anyway, as there are no indications ‘Rowdy’ will ever return to the Octagon.
