Rousey, White make comparisons to Mike Tyson

It is often said that in combat sports, greatness arises from great rivalry – no Joe Frazier, no Muhammad Ali. There is another model of extraordinary popularity though – Mike Tyson. In his prime, you knew the fight might only last a few rounds, or a few seconds, and it was awesome.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has been faulted for having no credible competition, with none on the horizon save Cris Cyborg who fights in another organization. In separate interviews, both Rousey and UFC president Dana White cited Tyson an example of why Rousey’s dominance is just fine.

“I can’t do anything right for some people,” said Rousey to Lance Pugmire for the LA Times. “I train harder than all these girls. I’ve worked to be the best in the world. People still find something wrong with it. It’s not because I have no competition. The competition out there is amazing.

“It’s that I plan for every fight so precisely. … So I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all that I’ve been so dominant in my last couple fights.”

“Mike Tyson had some serious competition too, don’t forget. It wasn’t always easy. People knew from those fights to get there immediately.

“You never know what’s going to happen in one of my fights, either. That’s the advantage I have over my opponents and what draws the fans in so much. From the second my fight starts to the second it’s over, nobody sits down.”

White offered a similar appraisal.

“(it’s) like saying they should have had some better fights for Mike Tyson,” said White. “The Tyson era was one of the most awesome eras in boxing history.

“You hear Ronda Rousey’s last fight went 16 seconds and you’re like, ‘Sixteen seconds?’ But what she did in those 16 seconds was un f—ing believable. For 16 seconds, she traded punches, knocked her out with one, caught her under her arm, kneed her to the stomach, threw her, and then hit her with about 15 punches. That all happened in 16 seconds.”

The one potential fight that could offer a Frazier to Rousey’s Ali is Cris Justino. However, White sounded underwhelmed about the prospect of restarting negotiations to sign the Brazilian.

“I have a ton of issues with ‘Cyborg,'” said White. “As soon as I sign ‘Cyborg’ they’re going to be talking to me about drug testing. … This whole aura of invincibility around ‘Cyborg’ and the people who don’t like Ronda who want her to fight ‘Cyborg’ … very weird dynamic.”

In the meantime, it appears the next two fights for Rousey may be Cat Zingano and Holly Holm. Zingano first has to get by Amanda Nunes on Sept 27, and Holm, who is recovering from a broken arm, is expected to have one fight in the UFC before facing Rousey.