On Saturday, the usually outspoken Ronda Rousey returns to the UFC. This time, though, her lips are sealed.
In a six-month window, Rousey and Conor McGregor, arguably the two biggest stars in mixed martial arts history, both suffered devastating losses.
In the immediate aftermath of McGregor’s first UFC defeat at the hands of Nate Diaz, the silver-tongued Irishman faced the media, vowed to avenge the loss, actually completed that objective, then made history by becoming the first two-weight world champion in the Nevada-based promotion’s 23-year history.
Conversely, after Holly Holm punted Rousey in the face, the once-invincible champ avoided the press, and essentially went into hiding for 12 months.
In that year-long span, Rousey has only sporadically spoken out – once for a high-profile interview on The Ellen Show, and once for a fluff piece by ESPN.
Even on fight week, Rousey is all-but-refusing to show her face in public. She will do no media, and her only public appearance before the fight will be at weigh-ins.
The problem with that is, UFC 207 is an event in desperate need of promotion given that the event will air live on Saturday afternoon (Friday night – US time), a day earlier than usual.
We are all creatures of habit and fight fans Down Under have been conditioned to believe that UFC events air on Sunday afternoon and that minor calendar shift can have a huge effect on the buy rate.
The last time UFC experimented with a Friday night pay-per-view before New Year’s Eve, it tanked.
The event also featured a pay-per-view juggernaut in Brock Lesnar, who had his final UFC fight for almost five years against Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem, but the event underperformed, especially by Lesnar standards.
Pay-per-view buys for events headlined by Lesnar:
UFC 91 (vs. Randy Couture): 1.01 million buys
UFC 100 (vs. Frank Mir): 1.6 million buys
UFC 116 (vs. Shane Carwin): 1.16 million buys
UFC 121 (vs. Cain Velasquez): 1.050 million buys
UFC 141 (vs. Alistair Overeem): 535,000 buys
Even beyond the box office appeal, there are a bunch of unanswered questions circling Rousey heading into this weekend’s fight against UFC bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes.
The only journalist who has been given access to Rousey since Holm knocked her block off is ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and the long form piece she produced felt like a story on Rousey’s terms, touching only on her redemptive story.
The elephant in the room when it comes to Rousey returning to the cage is her blinding loyalty to head coach Edmond Tarverdyan.
Aside from Rousey, nobody in the UFC has prospered under Tarverdyan. Rousey’s significant other, Travis Browne, is on a losing streak, Jake Ellenberger has gone 1-3 in his last four, and of the other three fighters that formed the ‘Four Horsewomen’ – Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir – none have recorded a win over the past few years.
Of course, this was never addressed in the ESPN story.
Rousey’s silence has allowed her reemergence to be shrouded in a layer of mystery. The truth is, nobody has an inkling as to how the UFC’s poster girl will perform in the cage until the Octagon’s chain-linked door panel slams shut on Saturday.
Until that moment, she both is and isn’t a dominant wrecking machine.
BigJ
Roar Guru
Yeah she took the loss rather badly, but that what happens when the pretty little princess does not get what she wants, she cried her eyes out. The true sign of a champion is not how you win but how you handle a loss. We shall see how she goes tomorrow
Bones506
Roar Guru
Rousey is the biggest name but I don't think she is the greatest. She is pretty 1 dimensional. Her striking lacks accuracy and finess - pure power and she just works for an arm bar. She was completely outclassed by Holm who pulled her limb from Limb. Personally I think Joanna Jędrzejczyk might not have the same household name but is a superior fighter. 13-0 and is a wrecking machine As for the fight - if she wins it will be sold by the UFC as the greatest comeback. If she loses, and I think she will, it will be all over. She has lost her fighting spirit - it is all image. She bought into 'I am the baddest on the planet' mentality and it was her undoing.
MoriartyExp
Roar Rookie
The main factor will be if Ronda and her team (mainly Edmond) can come up with a good game plan for Nunes. Edmond after round 1 in the Holm fight gave Ronda easily the worst advice in MMA history and she continued to charge Holm which was playing to Holms advantage. Hoping to see Ronda get back to basics and unlike the comments above, the year off was FANTASTIC for her. Getting brutally knocked out by a head kick does serious damage and to be able to take a year off, recover and refocus on what she did wrong, how to change/adjust to the new breed coming through is a luxury only a few fighters get. Nunes hasn't gone five rounds yet, to be honest, she doesn't look good after the first round but she has moved to ATT and i'm sure they would of addressed her cardio issues. The media ban is bad for Nunes as she deserves the coverage, she is the first openly gay champion, Brazilian (who are lacking in the champion department at the moment) but it also allows her to focus on Ronda without any distractions. I personally think if Ronda can whether the first round, she will take Nunes into deep water in the 3rd/4th and with a judo hip toss lead her into the classic Rousey arm bar!
Farqueue
Guest
I thought it was karma when she lost to holly after she refused to tap gloves before the start of the fight...that was disrespectful and she has carried on like a big sook since. I won't be cheering her on and i will be betting against her in the next fight. On another topic ,how funny was it to hear dana White say that Conor would kill Floyd mayweathers bodyguards... he has at least 4 guys who are 7 foot tall and over 160kgs ...nate Diaz choked him out..if just one got hold of him they would snap him in half.
Justin Faux
Expert
I would usually agree that Rousey's name and face on a poster would be enough and that the move from Friday night from Saturday night (US time) shouldn't be a huge factor because it's Rousey, but this is the least talked about Rousey fight since she joined the UFC. Having spoken with media friends on the ground in Las Vegas, they have confirmed that there is little buzz in town for the fight. It feels like it is flying under the radar without that Rousey hype machine. And no, she hasn't beaten Amanda Nunes.
Justin Faux
Expert
Regardless of the outcome of Saturday's fight, Ronda Rousey is still the greatest female prizefighter in history, but the jury is out as to whether or not she can pick up where she left off after a high-profile knockout loss. I compared her to Mike Tyson in a story I published a while ago. After Tyson lost to Buster Douglas, it was never the same. Time will tell if Rousey follows the same path.
BigJ
Roar Guru
I think this is strategy so that she can focus on nothing but the fight. And the end of the day, rRhonda is a fighter not an entertainer and Getting back to basics might to be way to go to win this fight. By staying quiet she is not playing into any body's mind games, you say the fight needs promotion, Rhonda is fighting promotion enough. Also hasn't she already beaten this girl??
Connor Bennett
Editor
I thought the way she fell back and disappeared for a year was disappointing. I don't want to touch on any kind of personal or mental issues she may have been struggling with after the loss, but a good fighter should be looking to bounce back and get back in the winners circle, like you mentioned with McGregor. She was an unstoppable force but as soon as she was brought down a peg she fled. She's undoubtedly a great fighter and a big personality in the sport, but I just felt like she hurt herself more by taking so much time off and taking it so hard