I see a lot of similarities between Rousey and Jones in terms of people being desperate to discredit them. I get that disliking someone makes you want to lose, and even create scenarios where someone is obviously going to beat them. But let's look at the reality here, of Rousey's strengths and weaknesses.
Physicality
Rousey is extremely strong. She's technically good, but she's also a beast physically. Bearing in mind she used to compete (and medalled) at 145lb in Judo, transitioning to 135lb with no noticeable strength loss puts her right at the top, and coupled with her technique means she can ragdoll almost anyone. The only person who is realistically stronger physically is Cyborg, who can barely make 145lb (and now will fight at 155lb, if that works). Rousey makes 135lb easily, so it's pretty unlikely they're crossing paths. Other than that, we're looking at McMann being the only candidate that has the power and technique to compete with Rousey.
Speed
Rousey is pretty middle ground on speed. Her reactions are incredible though- her Judo background gives her an instant feel of where her opponents weight is based, and the second they go off balance- she'll take them down. Her hand speed isn't great, but she's not a striker...
Striking
Which leads into her only significant weakness. Technically speaking, her actual striking isn't bad, but her defence is awful. She only needs to use her striking to set up the clinch though, and she has a good rangy jab to close distance. The upside for her here is that women don't hit hard enough for the striking to be a big deal, unless she can't close the distance to clinch. If she was a HW man, any decent striker would be knocking her out- but even Cyborg doesn't have real OHKO power. Provided she can eat a strike or two to close, once she gets the clinch she has a distinct advantage. Holly Holm may cause a problem, and McMann again has the edge striking- if she can keep it standing.
Grappling
This is one of Rousey's greatest strengths, but I also think it's her second biggest weakness. Coming from a Judo background, giving up your back just isn't a big deal- because wearing a gi makes defending chokes a lot easier, and if your back is taken on the ground, you only have to stall for a little before the ref will stand you back up. A lot of Judo throws require you to risk giving up your back, especially her favourite hip toss- and opponents will pick up on that. It's a small window, but definitely one to exploit. Having said that, her skill, grappling and tenacity makes it very hard and risky to try and beat her via submission- if you can't pull it off, she's got you right where she wants you.
Submissions
This is an interesting one. A lot of people believe Rousey's only weapon is the armbar, and whilst everyone agrees it's lethal, if someone can defend it- what else does she have?
Well firstly, she has a shitload of subs in her arsenal, and I think she's keeping them quiet to keep some cards up her sleeve. If they can't defend the armbar, why reveal more than you need to? That's clearly her favourite, and it's been successful so far.
Secondly, people don't realise that it's the setup that makes it so hard to defend. It's like watching a tennis match where a guy has a lethal forehand, and saying 'well, just don't hit to his forehand, derp!'. Part of the skill is in pushing the action towards exactly that, and she has a multi-step process to force you towards the armbar, and multiple separate transitions towards it. If you defend one, she moves into another, defend that and she might find an opening for the first again. It's just not as simple as that, she is a truly elite grappler fighting way above the competition. Unless another elite Judoka or BJJ artist comes in, who has a similarly strong mindset to her, people will keep getting caught. You can't negate a lifetime of Judo with a year of BJJ training.
Cardio
Unproven, so impossible to say as yet. But as an Olympic Judoka, her cardio is probably pretty decent, especially amongst women. Hard to say until someone manages to take her out of the first round, but in the Tate fight it was a pretty furious pace and she looked fresh at the end of it.
Heart
A lot of people point to Carmouche as being close to submit her. Well, Vitor nearly subbed Jones too, right? But people credited him with being tough enough to fight it off, and then dominate the fight- he gained respect for that. Rousey should get the same, because she showed she has the determination to fight off what must have been an insanely painful neck crank, not panic, and calmly pick off the hooks. Watch the fight, she chooses to ignore the neck and focus entirely on the legs, which enabled her to shake her off. Most people would pull at the arms instead, wasting energy and allowing the opponent to fortify their position. She showed a lot of strength against adversity. When Tate got her back too, she showed great composure and shrugged her off without too much difficulty.
Overall
Rousey has all the tools to be the best in WMMA for a long time. The lack of KO power really reduces her biggest weakness, her strengths are above anyone there right now, and it's unlikely anyone will change that. Grapplers are going to be the strongest in WMMA due to lack of KO power. Her biggest threats are Cyborg, McMann, and Holm. Cyborg is just unlikely to happen, their fight weights are like 15/20lb apart. Even if they do fight, I could see Rousey beating Cyborg- Carano got her in mount, and Rousey is infinitely better on the ground than Carano. She wouldn't have let her out. Holm is a possibility, but I don't think her TDD is nearly good enough to keep it standing. The only realistic contender is McMann, and it comes down to whether she can keep Rousey off her and outpoint her standing. The two are similarly matched for strength by the looks of things, have a similar grappling pedigree, and McMann has an edge striking. But I think that match hits the mat at some point, and from there- despite her wrestling- McMann gets subbed.
Tate, Zingano, all the rest- they're just leagues behind. Rousey will retire in a few years undefeated, and love her or hate her- she will have done more to help WMMA than any female in it's history.
Physicality
Rousey is extremely strong. She's technically good, but she's also a beast physically. Bearing in mind she used to compete (and medalled) at 145lb in Judo, transitioning to 135lb with no noticeable strength loss puts her right at the top, and coupled with her technique means she can ragdoll almost anyone. The only person who is realistically stronger physically is Cyborg, who can barely make 145lb (and now will fight at 155lb, if that works). Rousey makes 135lb easily, so it's pretty unlikely they're crossing paths. Other than that, we're looking at McMann being the only candidate that has the power and technique to compete with Rousey.
Speed
Rousey is pretty middle ground on speed. Her reactions are incredible though- her Judo background gives her an instant feel of where her opponents weight is based, and the second they go off balance- she'll take them down. Her hand speed isn't great, but she's not a striker...
Striking
Which leads into her only significant weakness. Technically speaking, her actual striking isn't bad, but her defence is awful. She only needs to use her striking to set up the clinch though, and she has a good rangy jab to close distance. The upside for her here is that women don't hit hard enough for the striking to be a big deal, unless she can't close the distance to clinch. If she was a HW man, any decent striker would be knocking her out- but even Cyborg doesn't have real OHKO power. Provided she can eat a strike or two to close, once she gets the clinch she has a distinct advantage. Holly Holm may cause a problem, and McMann again has the edge striking- if she can keep it standing.
Grappling
This is one of Rousey's greatest strengths, but I also think it's her second biggest weakness. Coming from a Judo background, giving up your back just isn't a big deal- because wearing a gi makes defending chokes a lot easier, and if your back is taken on the ground, you only have to stall for a little before the ref will stand you back up. A lot of Judo throws require you to risk giving up your back, especially her favourite hip toss- and opponents will pick up on that. It's a small window, but definitely one to exploit. Having said that, her skill, grappling and tenacity makes it very hard and risky to try and beat her via submission- if you can't pull it off, she's got you right where she wants you.
Submissions
This is an interesting one. A lot of people believe Rousey's only weapon is the armbar, and whilst everyone agrees it's lethal, if someone can defend it- what else does she have?
Well firstly, she has a shitload of subs in her arsenal, and I think she's keeping them quiet to keep some cards up her sleeve. If they can't defend the armbar, why reveal more than you need to? That's clearly her favourite, and it's been successful so far.
Secondly, people don't realise that it's the setup that makes it so hard to defend. It's like watching a tennis match where a guy has a lethal forehand, and saying 'well, just don't hit to his forehand, derp!'. Part of the skill is in pushing the action towards exactly that, and she has a multi-step process to force you towards the armbar, and multiple separate transitions towards it. If you defend one, she moves into another, defend that and she might find an opening for the first again. It's just not as simple as that, she is a truly elite grappler fighting way above the competition. Unless another elite Judoka or BJJ artist comes in, who has a similarly strong mindset to her, people will keep getting caught. You can't negate a lifetime of Judo with a year of BJJ training.
Cardio
Unproven, so impossible to say as yet. But as an Olympic Judoka, her cardio is probably pretty decent, especially amongst women. Hard to say until someone manages to take her out of the first round, but in the Tate fight it was a pretty furious pace and she looked fresh at the end of it.
Heart
A lot of people point to Carmouche as being close to submit her. Well, Vitor nearly subbed Jones too, right? But people credited him with being tough enough to fight it off, and then dominate the fight- he gained respect for that. Rousey should get the same, because she showed she has the determination to fight off what must have been an insanely painful neck crank, not panic, and calmly pick off the hooks. Watch the fight, she chooses to ignore the neck and focus entirely on the legs, which enabled her to shake her off. Most people would pull at the arms instead, wasting energy and allowing the opponent to fortify their position. She showed a lot of strength against adversity. When Tate got her back too, she showed great composure and shrugged her off without too much difficulty.
Overall
Rousey has all the tools to be the best in WMMA for a long time. The lack of KO power really reduces her biggest weakness, her strengths are above anyone there right now, and it's unlikely anyone will change that. Grapplers are going to be the strongest in WMMA due to lack of KO power. Her biggest threats are Cyborg, McMann, and Holm. Cyborg is just unlikely to happen, their fight weights are like 15/20lb apart. Even if they do fight, I could see Rousey beating Cyborg- Carano got her in mount, and Rousey is infinitely better on the ground than Carano. She wouldn't have let her out. Holm is a possibility, but I don't think her TDD is nearly good enough to keep it standing. The only realistic contender is McMann, and it comes down to whether she can keep Rousey off her and outpoint her standing. The two are similarly matched for strength by the looks of things, have a similar grappling pedigree, and McMann has an edge striking. But I think that match hits the mat at some point, and from there- despite her wrestling- McMann gets subbed.
Tate, Zingano, all the rest- they're just leagues behind. Rousey will retire in a few years undefeated, and love her or hate her- she will have done more to help WMMA than any female in it's history.
