Rousey is ready for her shot at the men - but are we?

Is it possible for Ronda Rousey to fight TJ Dillashaw in a 135lb unification title fight?

Joe Rogan and Ronda herself have already answered the idea of ‘could’, both very clear to state she has the skilset to beat anyone – or anything for that matter.

Dana White has already insinuated it’s the only way to even the Vegas odds.

In fact, of the 45 different articles I’ve read about who Ronda should fight next, none have tackled the actual logistics of whether it was even possible.

After reading the collection I’ve done the work for you. The logistics of a fight breakdown into the following categories: precedent, licensing (legal), physical ability, and societal opinion.

This being such a vast amount of topics, I went to a panel of experts with very specific questions pertaining to the topic of Ronda fighting TJ. Again I want to state a warning – my goal was not to ask these professionals if they thought she should.

My goal was to work out if they believe the fight is possible. The results are fascinating under that premise.

Precedent
Exactly seven days prior to Ronda Rousey’s 14-second finish of Cat Zingano, a high school senior named Destiny Nunez, broke another barrier. Nunez became the first girl to ever win the Arkansas State Wrestling Title. Nunez fought everyone else who qualified for her 106lb weight class, and became the fifth girl in U.S. history to win a state wrestling title.

There certainly is precedent, just not much on the professional level.

It’s a different story when it comes to training. Professional training camps cross train men and women in MMA, judo, muay thai, boxing, jiujitsu, and wrestling. There have also been a few professional grappling tournaments that have had men fight women for prize money. It’s few and far between though. I spoke with veteran MMA/Jiujitsu Referee Andrew Correa, who confirmed in 15 years of different events, it’s only happened occasionally.

Licensing
Would it be legal for the UFC as an organisation to announce that Ronda Rousey is fighting TJ Dillashaw? For this question, I asked lawyer and founder of BJJ Training Journal, Amechi Akpom.

The Roar: Is there something more illegal about a man fighting a woman than a man fighting a man?

Amechi: In short, no. Remember though, it’s never legal for any two people to fight each other. You can’t just say two guys or girls are going into a cage to fight.

When they are fighting for prize money it’s in a different category. The fight promoters would need to request licensing of the governing body that’s sanctioning the fight. That gets into which state the fight is in, or country for that matter.

So presumably, if the UFC wanted to have a man fight a woman, they’d have to declare an intension to do so, and find a place that would sanction the fight. Also, pro-wrestling does it, not the same, just saying, men and women fight – a lot.

Physical ability
One of the overarching assumptions I’ve seen made in this Ronda versus a man debate is that men are much more physically dominant.

To help answer this question, I asked MMA conditioning coach Karen White the following.

The Roar: Does the fight being at 135 lbs. balance out any potential physical differences that exist between men and women?

Karen: Not necessarily. Men typically have better upper body strength naturally. However, women metabolise fat differently for energy and endurance. I think it greatly depends on training and which physical attributes have been developed.

For example, I personally, have stronger legs than most men…but I train for that. In an MMA situation, leg strength can certainly help Rhonda balance any differential factors.

Traditionally, women also have better balance skills, in conjunction with superior leg strength and technique, for instance, a male counterpart could easily be defeated.

In my opinion, the best advantage a male opponent has against a woman is his fear of losing to a woman. What it basically boils down to is training and technique. Gender physical differences don’t matter.

Societal opinion
Ronda is absolutely different. Considering her rare talent, I asked PhD and specialist in sports communication, Aaron Duncan the following question.

The Roar: Given that Ronda is uniquely talented, why would people be uncomfortable with this?

Duncan: Social concerns would likely centre on increasing the acceptability and/or normalisation of violence against women. Currently, society teaches that it is never OK for a man to put his hands on a woman, but this would in essence become an exception to that rule.

Those concerned would likely argue that this would muddy the water and be avoided. This is in many ways the argument we have with women in combat. It’s a shudder factor of what we are OK with.

The Roar: That makes sense. Why should people be comfortable with this?

Duncan: What is a fascinating question is: what if she won? She would certainly dispel the notion that women’s MMA is inferior to men’s MMA. That has the potential to be empowering.

In some ways that gets back to the roots of the UFC, that a smaller guy like Royce Gracie could prove technique can defeat brute strength. When you factor in the 135 lb. weight, there are no logistical reasons to prevent people of different sexes from competing against each other – it has to be an attitudinal or cultural barrier. What are we comfortable in seeing?

The summary
As the old adage goes, when the money is right, the fight will happen. Ronda Rousey’s unprecedented dominance forces us to ask unprecedented questions. Her last two opponents have lasted a combined 30 seconds.

If her dominance continues, this small rumble will reach earthquake status as we as an MMA community decide if we are ready for Ronda to try and become the undisputed champion.