By Dan Ambrose: For some reason Ring Magazine had placed UFC female star Ronda Rousey on the cover of their magazine for the January 2016 issue with the title “Conquered MMA. Is Boxing Next?” Rousey doesn’t boxing background. She came from a judo background, and the natural sport for her to move to after her judo days were over was MMA.
Since joining the UFC, Rousey has done very well, but she’s also faced absolutely horrible opposition. Rousey hasn’t faced anyone that you can a quality MMA fighter like Cyborg. Most of the women that Rousey has faced haven’t been involved with the sport for very long, which suggests that Rousey is facing largely amateurish opposition. But it is peculiar that Ring Magazine has decided to put Rousey on the cover of their magazine when it’s clear that she’s not a boxer, and has no intentions of trying to enter that sport.
The money that Rousey gets in MMA is just too good, and she likely wouldn’t do very well in a sport where she couldn’t grapple. Ring Magazine has their reasons for putting Rousey’s face on their cover. Is it to sell magazines? I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the main reason. Rousey is super popular, so if you have her photo on the magazine, then it sells. It’s unknown what the status is with the magazine. Are people still purchasing it? You’d have to imagine that magazine sales are down with most magazines now that more and more people are turning to the internet for their news.
Ring Magazine can plaster Rousey’s face on their magazine every month of the year if they want to, but I don’t see it as being something that means anything. Rousey is not going to become a boxer. If she did, I think she’d lose left and right unless she was spoon fed soft opposition. She’d find out that boxing is a much different animal than MMA. Without her ability to use her judo background in the ring, Rousey would likely be helpless as a baby.
I just hope that Ring Magazine isn’t going to be wasting their time putting more MMA fighters on the cover of their magazine, because I think it just confuses people. I know if I was an MMA fan and I accidently picked up one of the Ring Magazine’s January issue with Rousey on the cover hoping to read about nothing but MMA news, I would be upset to see mostly boxing. I’d toss it back on the stand and look for real MMA news, not pseudo news and ‘what if’ stuff that will never happen with Rousey.
This is the fight I am most excited to see next. Good luck @RondaRousey! #rouseyVSholm pic.twitter.com/7HqaMQECg4
— Gennady Golovkin (@GGGBoxing) October 27, 2015
She had her chance to try and fight Laila Ali a while ago, and she didn’t push for the fight. It would take Rousey too many years for her to learn how to box correctly, and she’s not young at 28. By the time she ever got to where she was any good, she would likely be too old for the sport. I’ve seen her throw punches and she doesn’t look like she’s cut out for boxing. The hand speed isn’t there, and she would be in a world of hurt against some of the younger women fighters. Without her ability to flip her opponents on the canvas, she’ll be out of luck.
Rousey has a fight next month with a former women’s boxer Holly Holmes, so there’s a chance that we might see Rousey use her fists just a little. I doubt that she’ll try and stand and fight Holmes just with her fists because I think Holmes would better the stout, wrestler-like Rousey. She doesn’t have the body for boxing in view, and I think Holmes would beat the living daylights out of her in a stand up right without kicking.
Rousey will likely grab Holmes immediately, flip her to the canvas, and then jump on her to put her in a submission hold. That’s how all of Rousey’s fights are pretty much, and it’s really boring to watch. It’s too quick and has too much wrestling and submission holds to interest me. I’ve seen some of Rousey’s fights hoping that she’s stand and fight it out, but she always does the same thing in flipping her opponents to the canvas using a basic judo move and then just jumps on them and it’s over.
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