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http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/6/2...ht-only-she-and-miesha-tate-willing-to-accept
"I know there were ten other women who were approached for this fight—TEN—and they did not take the fight. That's kind of a high number, much more than I expected. I would've thought a couple, but I was told it was ten, which is amazing to me. I don't think there was anything that would lead any of them to want to be in a fight with her, as far as weaknesses that were displayed in the less than two minutes of our fight.
I think it's got a lot more to do with them realizing that they shouldn't be little...scaredy-cats [laughs]. They shouldn't be little beezies, not taking the real fights, because that's what it's all about. Maybe a couple of them watched the embedded where I talked about it, and they're like, ‘Oh yeah, I guess this is what I wanna do.'
For the record, I know that Miesha Tate has always said that she would take the fight, but she had other obligations to the UFC. It's all the other ones; I love laughing at seeing how many of them are willing to take that fight now."
...
A question that has been on the minds of many a fan of late, is will Ronda Rousey return to action or will she solely pursue her acting career. Leslie would like to see her return to the sport, and feels that if she does, it will be a boon for WMMA.
"First, going the way of Gina Carano would certainly not be a bad thing. She's definitely a money maker and has brought about some big changes for women's MMA in the course of her still short career.
I'd like to see her back. I think it would be great if she came back, but it's up to her. Fighting isn't a job, or even a sport like any other. It's a hard thing to tell someone they have to go back in there and fight. You can tell someone to go play soccer or baseball, and even if their heart is not into it, you can give them a tough slap on the back and say, ‘Go get ‘em, Tiger,' and hopefully their blood will get going and they'll remember something.
You can't really do that for a fight, though. Either someone wants to fight or they don't. I think it's a tough place to come back from, where she's at right now, because when you create a persona—and she lived up to that persona-- and something happens to take that away, it's like that person has died.
She's been really vocal about the pain it's caused her, and I respect that. She even mentioned that she had suicidal thoughts briefly, and I think it's great that she's been that outspoken. It's really sad that she got to that point, and I hope that she has more people around her that love and appreciate her for more than just fighting, because that's not the only thing that defines her, or any of us, for that matter.
I just hope for the best for her. I think it would be a good thing for her to come back and have another fight, and I think that she would do great. She's a powerhouse, but at the same time, if her head and heart isn't in it, then she shouldn't, because you have to be in 100%. That's the main reason that the pool is so small, it's because it's a hard thing to stay injury-free, stay focused, and stay 100% invested mentally. That's a really tough thing to do, and only she knows if that's what's right for her."
Many other topics covered in podcast at link.
"I know there were ten other women who were approached for this fight—TEN—and they did not take the fight. That's kind of a high number, much more than I expected. I would've thought a couple, but I was told it was ten, which is amazing to me. I don't think there was anything that would lead any of them to want to be in a fight with her, as far as weaknesses that were displayed in the less than two minutes of our fight.
I think it's got a lot more to do with them realizing that they shouldn't be little...scaredy-cats [laughs]. They shouldn't be little beezies, not taking the real fights, because that's what it's all about. Maybe a couple of them watched the embedded where I talked about it, and they're like, ‘Oh yeah, I guess this is what I wanna do.'
For the record, I know that Miesha Tate has always said that she would take the fight, but she had other obligations to the UFC. It's all the other ones; I love laughing at seeing how many of them are willing to take that fight now."
...
A question that has been on the minds of many a fan of late, is will Ronda Rousey return to action or will she solely pursue her acting career. Leslie would like to see her return to the sport, and feels that if she does, it will be a boon for WMMA.
"First, going the way of Gina Carano would certainly not be a bad thing. She's definitely a money maker and has brought about some big changes for women's MMA in the course of her still short career.
I'd like to see her back. I think it would be great if she came back, but it's up to her. Fighting isn't a job, or even a sport like any other. It's a hard thing to tell someone they have to go back in there and fight. You can tell someone to go play soccer or baseball, and even if their heart is not into it, you can give them a tough slap on the back and say, ‘Go get ‘em, Tiger,' and hopefully their blood will get going and they'll remember something.
You can't really do that for a fight, though. Either someone wants to fight or they don't. I think it's a tough place to come back from, where she's at right now, because when you create a persona—and she lived up to that persona-- and something happens to take that away, it's like that person has died.
She's been really vocal about the pain it's caused her, and I respect that. She even mentioned that she had suicidal thoughts briefly, and I think it's great that she's been that outspoken. It's really sad that she got to that point, and I hope that she has more people around her that love and appreciate her for more than just fighting, because that's not the only thing that defines her, or any of us, for that matter.
I just hope for the best for her. I think it would be a good thing for her to come back and have another fight, and I think that she would do great. She's a powerhouse, but at the same time, if her head and heart isn't in it, then she shouldn't, because you have to be in 100%. That's the main reason that the pool is so small, it's because it's a hard thing to stay injury-free, stay focused, and stay 100% invested mentally. That's a really tough thing to do, and only she knows if that's what's right for her."
Many other topics covered in podcast at link.
