(Photo credit: Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions) By Chris Williams: In the last few weeks there has been a large amount of MMA fans of the sport trying to drive up interest in a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) and UFC female bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (12-0, 3 KOs) in a fight that would take place by MMA rules. When the question was put to Mayweather about him possibly stepping into the octagon to fight Ronda Rousey, Mayweather shot down the idea. He saw the ideas a joke.
It’s unthinkable to assume that the plump looking Rousey could ever beat a fighter as talented and as gifted as Mayweather, even if he fought her under the rules of the MMA sport. Rousey has been scoring fast submission victories over women with limited experience.
Rousey only has 12 fights under her belt. However, if a fighter like Mayweather were to enter the octagon to face Rousey, he would likely destroy her with the first punch he threw. In UFC competition, they were very thin gloves that increase the impact of punches. If a fighter as lethal as Mayweather were to compete against Rousey, I believe it would be over so quickly with Mayweather stopping her before she even gets her hands on him to try and take him to the mat.
The reason why some MMA fans want Mayweather to fight Rousey is because of the friction that the two of them have over recent comments that Rousey has made about him. She’s also seen as the best female UFC fighter in the sport. Mayweather is seen as the best make in boxing.
“I don’t follow the sport but when I heard of the name Ronday Rousey, honestly I thought it was a guy,” Mayweather said to Fightnews.com. “I wish her nothing but the best.” Floyd was then asked about possibly fighting Rousey. “You’re a comedian,” Floyd said.
It was the comment that Mayweather made about thinking that Rousey was a guy that angered her, causing her to get revenge against Mayweather recently at the ESPY award ceremony, where she said “I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once,” Rousey said. “I’d like to see him pretend to not know who I am now. I know for damn sure that he knew who I was, because he was running against me for Best Fighter that year and he has signed MMA fighters.”
Rousey was given the award of Fighter of the Year last month at the ESPYs in beating out Mayweather for that honor.
Mayweather took the verbal shot from Rousey until recently when he told ESPN.com “I’ve yet to see any MMA fighter, or other boxer, make over $300 million in 36 minutes,” Mayweather said. “When she can do that, then call me.”
It’s unknown how much money Rousey makes for her UFC fights, but it’s probably a lot less than the $300 million that Mayweather recently made for his fight against Manny Pacquiao. Perhaps someday the UFC fighters like Rousey will be making $300 million for their big fights, but who knows when that will happen.
Rousey recently stopped Bethe Correia in the 1st round at UFC 190 with a series of punches to the head. In comparing it to what you see in an average boxing match, it looked like primitive stuff from Rousey. While she’s a great grappler on the mat, she doesn’t look so great when throwing punches. When she was finishing off Correia, she was standing square and just throwing windmill shots. That kind of fighting would never work against a skilled boxer. Even a poor boxer would totally take advantage of Rousey if she fought like that.
Mayweather is getting ready for his September 12th fight against Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unlike the guaranteed $100 million that Mayweather received for his last fight against Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather will be getting a guaranteed $35 million. The money will obviously sour far beyond that once the pay-per-view and gate numbers are released. Mayweather could wind up with more than $50 million for the fight, which is obviously good money for a fight that many boxing fans feel is a mismatch. I don’t see it as a mismatch. I think it’s a very good competitive fight. Berto is hungry, young and ready to make it a compelling match for as long as it lasts.
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