IMG/GIF Ronda Rousey on Cover of Sports Illustrated (Pic)

[jason73]

 

[Wild]

That spoiler thingy has to be the coolest frickin thing Ive ever seen on a forum, ever in the history of me

LOL, this is why I will always respect @RickStorm

 

[Deleted member 1]

Man yall some hatin' mofos!

I can't say I'm all about the internal MMA world sucking off Rousey. There's a good debate to have about dominate versus the depth of the division. BUT, she is light years ahead and is getting attention to WMMA/MMA as a whole to a crowd that wouldn't be paying attention.

I have less of a problem with this focus on her athletic performances than I do the usually less than impressive thoughts in her interviews.

 

[Deleted member 1]

That spoiler thingy has to be the coolest frickin thing Ive ever seen on a forum, ever in the history of me

Spoiler: Spoilerception

Spoiler: Shhhhhhh

 

[Zeph]

Spoiler: Spoilerception

Spoiler: Shhhhhhh

 

[Darqnezz]

But that type of gap in competition level takes away major "all time great" points. She doesn't belong on an MMA P4P list with guys on it, and she definitely isn't the most dominate athlete in all of sports

You can't blame her for being "Too Good". Can you blame Tyson for being called "the most dangerous man alive" when he was on top? How about Ali "The G.O.A.T"? She is destroying her competition. Until she is challenged, she deserves to be on the P4P list. She might deserve to be on top of it. If you dont agree with me, name an athelete that is more dominant. You can't compare today to the early UFC. These women have been training MMA (including grappling) for years.

 

[Punch]

She was named most dominant athlete alive. Last i checked Ali, Gretzky, Jordan, Bolt, and Phelps are all living.

 

[La Paix]

Check out @FOXSportsLive's Tweet:
View: https://twitter.com/FOXSportsLive/status/598521427680079872?s=09

 

[Priziesthorse]

Saw this article on Reddit. Sums up my feelings...

Ronda Rousey on SI Cover and Why We Can’t Have Pretty Things | The Province

 

[Zeph]

Saw this article on Reddit. Sums up my feelings...

Ronda Rousey on SI Cover and Why We Can’t Have Pretty Things | The Province

As for the “She’s the most dominant in the weakest division” argument, Rousey’s last six opponents — Cat Zingano, Alexis Davis, Sarah McMann, Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche and Sarah Kaufman — have a combined 77-22 record.

Of those losses, seven have come against Rousey and only six others have come against fighters outside of the group. Subtract the setbacks against the UFC women’s bantamweight champion and the group is 77-15, with nine losses coming when they fight each other. That’s a pretty competitive group, one that has clearly separated itself from the rest of the women’s 135-pound ranks.

So how about this for a novel idea: maybe it’s not that the division is weak, it’s just that Rousey is a once-in-a-lifetime talent operating on a completely different level than everyone else in the weight class? How come that never seems to be the explanation? How come it’s always, “Yeah, but everyone she’s facing isn’t really that good”?

That is the best point from that article. I'd interested in comparisons in regards to the % of wins in a record, compared to say the Featherweight or Lightheavy weight divison.

 

[chaplinshouse]

You can't blame her for being "Too Good". Can you blame Tyson for being called "the most dangerous man alive" when he was on top? How about Ali "The G.O.A.T"? She is destroying her competition. Until she is challenged, she deserves to be on the P4P list. She might deserve to be on top of it. If you dont agree with me, name an athelete that is more dominant. You can't compare today to the early UFC. These women have been training MMA (including grappling) for years.

Hmm. Not sure if should bite

I don't blame any of them, I'm a fan of all their work. They're greater at their chosen craft than I'll ever be at mine. I blame media and promoter hype mislabeling based on ulterior motive. In this case, to sell a few magazines. No, you can't say she belongs on a P4P list with men on it. You'd be joining the crowd in turning the definition of P4P into a joke. P4P means, if weight/size were the same, who would be clearly superior. There's no mention of gender, it's just to rank who is the alpha fighter if size did not give an advantage and only skills were left to measure. Currently she is #4 P4P! Other people her weight on the list? Dominick Cruz (15), Renan Barao (10), TJ Dillishaw (6). Lighter than her is Mighty Mouse (2). Do you realize what any of those guys would do to her? Put her on top of a female P4P list all day, but you can't compare her directly to male killers her weight and say she's superior. There's no grey area to the definition of P4P. It's very clear, but people keep wanting to use it as a promotional bullshit tool

Usain Bolt, Floyd Mayweather, Jon Jones, Christiano Ronaldo, Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Aaron Rogers, Demetrious Johnson all would have made a better choice than Ronda Rousey where actives are concerned. They compete vs the world's best every time. Quality of opponent means everything in pro sports. But for women's MMA you have this nice little grey area that creates a gap in competition other sports don't have the same luxury of having: You've got a pool of women that were truly built like a woman (mostly), have been training maybe 5 or 6 years, competing in the one sport women were truly not meant to excel at. Insert a beast that's been training since they were a baby (in this case, by a Judo champion all day every day), is physically built closer to a man, and it's no longer a true competition, unless shooting fish in a barrel is the sport. Not Ronda's fault, but it's the same overall concept of Kramer beating up kids. Her last 2 fights lasted 30 seconds combined. That puts her above all athletes on planet earth across all sports? No. But it may sell a few magazines, makes an interesting story to have a movie star fighter chick on SI's cover. You think Usain Bolt on the cover would sell half the magazines as Ronda Rousey? zzzzz. SI knows this. Let's go with the chick movie star that the public is seeing on all the talk shows lately, we'll sell more

That all said I'm happy she's there because it will help the sport. I just expect MMA fans to know the real score

 

[Punch]

Hmm. Not sure if should bite

I don't blame any of them, I'm a fan of all their work. They're greater at their chosen craft than I'll ever be at mine. I blame media and promoter hype mislabeling based on ulterior motive. In this case, to sell a few magazines. No, you can't say she belongs on a P4P list with men on it. You'd be joining the crowd in turning the definition of P4P into a joke. P4P means, if weight/size were the same, who would be clearly superior. There's no mention of gender, it's just to rank who is the alpha fighter if size did not give an advantage and only skills were left to measure. Currently she is #4 P4P! Other people her weight on the list? Dominick Cruz (15), Renan Barao (10), TJ Dillishaw (6). Lighter than her is Mighty Mouse (2). Do you realize what any of those guys would do to her? Put her on top of a female P4P list all day, but you can't compare her directly to male killers her weight and say she's superior. There's no grey area to the definition of P4P. It's very clear, but people keep wanting to use it as a promotional bullshit tool

Usain Bolt, Floyd Mayweather, Jon Jones, Christiano Ronaldo, Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Aaron Rogers, Demetrious Johnson all would have made a better choice than Ronda Rousey where actives are concerned. They compete vs the world's best every time. Quality of opponent means everything in pro sports. But for women's MMA you have this nice little grey area that creates a gap in competition other sports don't have the same luxury of having: You've got a pool of women that were truly built like a woman (mostly), have been training maybe 5 or 6 years, competing in the one sport women were truly not meant to excel at. Insert a beast that's been training since they were a baby (in this case, by a Judo champion all day every day), is physically built closer to a man, and it's no longer a true competition, unless shooting fish in a barrel is the sport. Not Ronda's fault, but it's the same overall concept of Kramer beating up kids. Her last 2 fights lasted 30 seconds combined. That puts her above all athletes on planet earth across all sports? No. But it may sell a few magazines, makes an interesting story to have a movie star fighter chick on SI's cover. You think Usain Bolt on the cover would sell half the magazines as Ronda Rousey? zzzzz. SI knows this. Let's go with the chick movie star that the public is seeing on all the talk shows lately, we'll sell more

That all said I'm happy she's there because it will help the sport. I just expect MMA fans to know the real score

Even RR's mom agrees with you on the P4P thing (which to me is silly bullshit anyway)

"That's a stupid idea," De Mars said. "Seriously, that's a stupid idea. I'm as much a feminist as anyone but the fact is that biologically, there's a difference between men and women. Hello. Duh. A woman who is 135 pounds and a man who is 135 pounds are not physically equal."

 

[Zeph]

Hmm. Not sure if should bite

I don't blame any of them, I'm a fan of all their work. They're greater at their chosen craft than I'll ever be at mine. I blame media and promoter hype mislabeling based on ulterior motive. In this case, to sell a few magazines. No, you can't say she belongs on a P4P list with men on it. You'd be joining the crowd in turning the definition of P4P into a joke. P4P means, if weight/size were the same, who would be clearly superior. There's no mention of gender, it's just to rank who is the alpha fighter if size did not give an advantage and only skills were left to measure. Currently she is #4 P4P! Other people her weight on the list? Dominick Cruz (15), Renan Barao (10), TJ Dillishaw (6). Lighter than her is Mighty Mouse (2). Do you realize what any of those guys would do to her? Put her on top of a female P4P list all day, but you can't compare her directly to male killers her weight and say she's superior. There's no grey area to the definition of P4P. It's very clear, but people keep wanting to use it as a promotional bullshit tool

Usain Bolt, Floyd Mayweather, Jon Jones, Christiano Ronaldo, Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Aaron Rogers, Demetrious Johnson all would have made a better choice than Ronda Rousey where actives are concerned. They compete vs the world's best every time. Quality of opponent means everything in pro sports. But for women's MMA you have this nice little grey area that creates a gap in competition other sports don't have the same luxury of having: You've got a pool of women that were truly built like a woman (mostly), have been training maybe 5 or 6 years, competing in the one sport women were truly not meant to excel at. Insert a beast that's been training since they were a baby (in this case, by a Judo champion all day every day), is physically built closer to a man, and it's no longer a true competition, unless shooting fish in a barrel is the sport. Not Ronda's fault, but it's the same overall concept of Kramer beating up kids. Her last 2 fights lasted 30 seconds combined. That puts her above all athletes on planet earth across all sports? No. But it may sell a few magazines, makes an interesting story to have a movie star fighter chick on SI's cover. You think Usain Bolt on the cover would sell half the magazines as Ronda Rousey? zzzzz. SI knows this. Let's go with the chick movie star that the public is seeing on all the talk shows lately, we'll sell more

That all said I'm happy she's there because it will help the sport. I just expect MMA fans to know the real score

I was agreeing with you until you started saying she was closer to a man than her opponents. Also, she has beaten an Olympic Silver medalist Wrestler in Mcann, Zingano has been training in wrestling since 12, Tate had a decent high school wrestling career, these women haven't just turned up off the streets, started MMA, and the get thrown into a title fight with a champion who has trained all their life. You make it sound like Rousey is calling out drunks from the crowd.

The argument that the SI article was making is she is the most dominant athlete in her sport, not the best athlete in the world. Ronda is at least in the argument for that, since she has beaten her peers in such a fast time, no one else in the sport of MMA comes close. She is the most dominant Champion in MMA. Those other guys, with the exception of Christiano Ronaldo, are the most dominant in their respective sports, however, lets take Lebron James and points per game for example - he has 25.3 points per game this season, which I am sure is great, but it also isn't blowing away everyone else in the sport. I'm sure there are other players on other teams which have 20 points per game average. So Lebron is dominant, but is he as dominant as Rousey, who has beaten her last 3 opponents in a combined 1:36? Maybe he is, I don't know, but the argument can be made that Rousey is more dominant. I think that combined with they are mostly team sports in which one man has less overall effect makes Ronda's argument a strong one, and one we as MMA fans should celebrate.

 

[chaplinshouse]

I was agreeing with you until you started saying she was closer to a man than her opponents. Also, she has beaten an Olympic Silver medalist Wrestler in Mcann, Zingano has been training in wrestling since 12, Tate had a decent high school wrestling career, these women haven't just turned up off the streets, started MMA, and the get thrown into a title fight with a champion who has trained all their life. You make it sound like Rousey is calling out drunks from the crowd.

The argument that the SI article was making is she is the most dominant athlete in her sport, not the best athlete in the world. Ronda is at least in the argument for that, since she has beaten her peers in such a fast time, no one else in the sport of MMA comes close. She is the most dominant Champion in MMA. Those other guys, with the exception of Christiano Ronaldo, are the most dominant in their respective sports, however, lets take Lebron James and points per game for example - he has 25.3 points per game this season, which I am sure is great, but it also isn't blowing away everyone else in the sport. I'm sure there are other players on other teams which have 20 points per game average. So Lebron is dominant, but is he as dominant as Rousey, who has beaten her last 3 opponents in a combined 1:36? Maybe he is, I don't know, but the argument can be made that Rousey is more dominant. I think that combined with they are mostly team sports in which one man has less overall effect makes Ronda's argument a strong one, and one we as MMA fans should celebrate.

FUCK. I just spent a good while typing out a response, then hit a macro button on my keyboard which kills the page. Just as I was done.

Watered down version:

her guns are bigger than mine. IMO she's proven physically stronger in cage even aside from just technique. No one has ever out muscled her in a fight, but she's out muscled pretty much everyone at points in the fights

Good point on Mcmann, but Ronda's resume is far more impressive than anyone else's, even Meisha and Zingano. She was drilled basically from birth to be a champion, by a champion, mentally and physically. She took the same path Andrei Agassi and Tiger woods took, groomed from the crib, only their sensei's had a far less impressive resume, and Ronda's opponents are far less competent. Imagine having crazy Mrs Rousey in your head all your life. You know what she's like. Surprise attacking armbars when you're trying to watch Sponge Bob. That woman oozes relentlessness. She's as smart as she is crazy and unforgiving. It's a credit to Ronda she took it and didn't snap.

I get your point that the subject is simply about domination and she fits that to a T. All I'm saying is, you can't compare her accomplishment across other sports that have had it's participants honing their craft as soon as they could walk. They're in sports 100+ years old with millions of players to measure themselves against that have been working on their skills since sesame street, often born from fathers that worked on the sport since sesame street, and want to live vicariously through their kids, so their competition is LEGIT. Ronda is the beneficiary of a sport only a few years old, vs a tiny pool of opponents that aren't as groomed as she is. So call her the most dominant female fighter but it's just not fair to compare her accomplishments apples to apples with other sports with legit competition and deep well established talent pools. Especially when you open the list to team sports. Team sports guys have to share the spotlight and be a team player. Their opportunities to "dominate" are far less than 1 v 1 sports. You cited Lebron. What kind of numbers would he put up in 1 v 1 basketball? Or if he were a ballhog like Chamberlain going against short white guys from the 50s? It's just not a fair comparison that's all I'm saying.

This whole thing just wreaks of a PR move by her PR team since her book is coming out. There has never been a most dominant athlete issue by SI iirc.

 

[Zeph]

FUCK. I just spent a good while typing out a response, then hit a macro button on my keyboard which kills the page. Just as I was done.

Watered down version:

her guns are bigger than mine. IMO she's proven physically stronger in cage even aside from just technique. No one has ever out muscled her in a fight, but she's out muscled pretty much everyone at points in the fights

Good point on Mcmann, but Ronda's resume is far more impressive than anyone else's, even Meisha and Zingano. She was drilled basically from birth to be a champion, by a champion, mentally and physically. She took the same path Andrei Agassi and Tiger woods took, groomed from the crib, only their sensei's had a far less impressive resume, and Ronda's opponents are far less competent. Imagine having crazy Mrs Rousey in your head all your life. You know what she's like. Surprise attacking armbars when you're trying to watch Sponge Bob. That woman oozes relentlessness. She's as smart as she is crazy and unforgiving. It's a credit to Ronda she took it and didn't snap.

I get your point that the subject is simply about domination and she fits that to a T. All I'm saying is, you can't compare her accomplishment across other sports that have had it's participants honing their craft as soon as they could walk. They're in sports 100+ years old with millions of players to measure themselves against that have been working on their skills since sesame street, often born from fathers that worked on the sport since sesame street, and want to live vicariously through their kids, so their competition is LEGIT. Ronda is the beneficiary of a sport only a few years old, vs a tiny pool of opponents that aren't as groomed as she is. So call her the most dominant female fighter but it's just not fair to compare her accomplishments apples to apples with other sports with legit competition and deep well established talent pools. Especially when you open the list to team sports. Team sports guys have to share the spotlight and be a team player. Their opportunities to "dominate" are far less than 1 v 1 sports. You cited Lebron. What kind of numbers would he put up in 1 v 1 basketball? Or if he were a ballhog like Chamberlain going against short white guys from the 50s? It's just not a fair comparison that's all I'm saying.

This whole thing just wreaks of a PR move by her PR team since her book is coming out. There has never been a most dominant athlete issue by SI iirc.

The original article was written by Jeff Wagenheim, an MMA reporter, at least he is a regular on The MMA Beat show, with Ariel Helwani, Luke Thomas and Chuck Mindenhall. I can't find it right now, but I read it and he has mentioned it on The MMA Beat. I would imagine that their senior editor liked how much traffic this polarizing opinion brought, and decided to co-opt it for the cover. It seems to have worked since we are talking about it, other sports fans likely feel their stars are being slighted in some way, and all of this is driving traffic to SI.com. Pretty successful article from their point of view.

While I probably wouldn't put her number 1 myself, can you really not see how her accomplishments put her into the argument? Maybe she does miss out on level of competition, but the comparisons can be made. MMA should be happy that a sport as young as it is has someone, who is such a special talent that they are head and shoulders above their peers, allowing for this comparison to be made as it gives the whole sport legitimacy, which from the outside perspective it lacks as a very niche sport.

 

[Zeph]

 

[chaplinshouse]

The original article was written by Jeff Wagenheim, an MMA reporter, at least he is a regular on The MMA Beat show, with Ariel Helwani, Luke Thomas and Chuck Mindenhall. I can't find it right now, but I read it and he has mentioned it on The MMA Beat. I would imagine that their senior editor liked how much traffic this polarizing opinion brought, and decided to co-opt it for the cover. It seems to have worked since we are talking about it, other sports fans likely feel their stars are being slighted in some way, and all of this is driving traffic to SI.com. Pretty successful article from their point of view.

While I probably wouldn't put her number 1 myself, can you really not see how her accomplishments put her into the argument? Maybe she does miss out on level of competition, but the comparisons can be made. MMA should be happy that a sport as young as it is has someone, who is such a special talent that they are head and shoulders above their peers, allowing for this comparison to be made as it gives the whole sport legitimacy, which from the outside perspective it lacks as a very niche sport.

Agreed, SI knows what they're doing. They've been in the game too long. Very smart, win/win for Ronda and SI both. I really don't think the timing of her book release with the SI cover is coincidence though.

I can see why Ronda would be in a mainstream sports argument on the topic yes. Most people look at it in passing without asking why or dig for details on her situation from sports age to the shallowest, least experienced talent pool on the entire list. So if you just care about the bottom line, who rolls through their opponents with the most ease end of story? Then sure I can understand, I just don't think "most dominant athlete" is meant to be a bottom line statement viewed as ho hum black and white. It's meant to be a magazine selling bragging rights thing at its core so given the winner it's misleading. It's kinda like "fasting growing sport" used as a promo tool. I just hate misleading shit. People will always bitch about lists though! I usually refrain haha

Agreed MMA should be doing cartwheels over this. It's good for all involved. Just like when Huerta got the SI cover

Yes I knew other girls had muscles ahaha. But touche' as my posting of Ronda's guns were irrelevant to making a point. I do think the meat of the point stands which is Ronda is more guy strong than them. Until someone out muscles her I will feel that way