Ronda Rousey

I’ve had a lot of fans/journalists quite flabbergasted at why I would take issue with what’s going on these days in women’s MMA. To explain my view, we’ve got to go back and understand where I came from.

I was there for birth of the women’s 135 division in Strikeforce in 2009. I was present in San Jose, CA in 2010 for the Challengers event where Sarah Kaufman very conservatively fought to win the first bantamweight belt. I’ve followed the division through the trials and tribulations of moving off the smaller cards. I watched Miesha Tate work her way through the 4-woman tournament to get her title shot. I was in Everett, WA when Sarah silenced the audience and critics with her powerbomb slam of Roxanne Modaferri (one of the few MMA related stories to be featured on SportCenter’s countdown). I was at the HP Pavilion when Marloes thrilled the fans with a beautifully executed armbar. And I knew the moment that Marloes took the title from Sarah, that Miesha would find a way to beat Marloes so she could get her rematch with Sarah.

So when all of this fell into place and my years of dedication and patience finally paid off, you would understand why I wouldn’t give much credence to a newbie former Judo Olympian announcing her intention to drop a weight class and jump in line.

I was already very wrapped up and intrigued by what was going on in Strikeforce’s 135 division. Sarah vs Marloes, Marloes vs Liz, Marloes vs Miesha, Alexis vs Amanda: these were all fights I loved and respected. These were fights that engaged me in the sport and got the respect of fans. Conversations on fan forums were finally about athleticism instead of these fighters “bang-ability.” And suddenly now I’m supposed to thank my lucky stars that someone tweeted their way into a title shot?

I understand that we exist in a new era for Strikeforce. Zuffa has always been less of a sports promotion and more of a circus. They’re not nearly as interested in athletes as they are clowns and Ronda fills this niche perfectly. I also want to be clear that I take no issue with trash talk. A little healthy mouthing off in any rivalry is an important and fun part of the sport. But there’s a clear difference between a good yo’ mama joke and actually speaking ill of someone’s mother.

The type of attention that Ronda is generating with her version of trash talk isn’t going to save anything. All it’s done is given the haters a safe place to hate again. The people who were silenced years ago from their “Sarah Kaufman’s boring and ugly” and “Cyborg’s a freakish man-woman” rants have found themselves a champion. They’ve found a girl, a pretty girl at that, to finally give them permission to speak again. A person that supports their ignorance under the guise of, “oh, I’m just telling it like it is.”

That’s why there are those of us that get upset and question Ronda’s character and true dedication to this sport. There’s this idea that if she had the slightest clue how far things have come, she wouldn’t behave like this.

So yes — for the short term, for Ms. Rousey’s pockets, for the fly-by-night fan that loves the spectacle — Ronda serves a purpose. But for the rest of us that want to see the sport mature and flourish and grow, she’s not doing us any favors.