WMMA without Rousey

[Sean Long]

As much as I hated Rousey before, I came to the realization that WMMA will die without Ronda.

Holly sucks she looked average in all of her fights (with the exception to Rousey). Every fight Holly wins, she wins in a boring fashion.
Amanda sucks if the fight goes past round 1, but her first rounds are, I admit, fun to watch.
Miesha is fun to look at but her fights are probably the most boring fights in the UFC.

Without Rousey, I honestly have not watched a full WMMA bantamweight fight simply because they are so fucking boring (Nunes vs Tate was the only fight I regretted missing).

I am praying that Ronda wins to save the division.

Does anyone agree with me? If not, please explain why I am wrong.

Thanks for reading!

Sherdog cant survive without white belts.....for realz.......

 

[HaikenEdge]

Normally I'd agree with you but in the case of this garbage thread, TS opinion is definitely wrong. Same mentality as half the Conor fanboys that don't actually like mma outside of their man crush. Conor is exciting, Ronda is exciting, but mma and wmma have plenty to offer outside of them.

I disagree. If they don't want to watch MMA without McGregor or WMMA without Rousey, then they're clearly not here for the MMA, and wouldn't have stayed anyways once those two left. I mean, Rousey and McGregor both debuted in the UFC in 2013, and if they haven't found other fighters to get behind in three years, then they're not going to at all.

 

[Daniel4802]

If WMMA survived and grew after Gina retired, it will again once Ronda leaves.

It isn't as niche as it were back then and we're now seeing more high profile athletes from combat sports transitioning to MMA because the potential to earn a living exists.

 

[Chain Saw]

Only Ronda fight I truly enjoyed was the one she got KO'd in.

Was a spectacular performance by Holm.

Not that it had much to do with Ronda.

 

[James Baller]

i was talking about 135. i should have been more clear so i understand your misunderstanding.

Gotcha, I see what you're saying now.

Rousey winning is definitely more lucrative in the short term. WME certainly will be rooting for a "Rousey Revolution". That said, who knows, maybe Nunes could be a great champion. While she may never do numbers like she will with Rousey again, WMMA is hard to predict in this way sometimes. Take Holly Holm for example, she did great numbers on Fox vs. Schevchenko. Maybe not Rousey numbers, but still.

What can I say, I am intruiged by Rousey's return. I won't lie, I'm more of a Nunes fan, but, it's going to be a fight that's going to draw a lot of eyes.

 

[Talon81]

I disagree. If they don't want to watch MMA without McGregor or WMMA without Rousey, then they're clearly not here for the MMA, and wouldn't have stayed anyways once those two left. I mean, Rousey and McGregor both debuted in the UFC in 2013, and if they haven't found other fighters to get behind in three years, then they're not going to at all.

Sounds to me like you are agreeing with me, not disagreeing. I'm saying the ts is one of those "not even a fan types" since he talks about there being nothing once Rousey is gone

 

[ninja boot]

it was whatever before ronda and will be whatever after her. fewer fighers means that it'll be a little while before the next big thing shows up in wmma but don't kid yourself... the ufc isn't going to abandon wmma based on the retirement of one soccer mom beating champ.

 

[BigMuffler]

We have Valentina Shevchenko.

We have Julianna Peniskicker!

 

[BigMuffler]

As a whole, however, I think women's MMA has already transcended Rousey and will survive without her; this is due to the talent of the 115-pound division, which is a lot deeper than the 135 pound division, and has many more dynamic fighters who are coming up the ranks, while 135 feels like it's stagnating a bit

It's not 'a lot' deeper, there are barely more SWs than BWs worldwide (source: Tapology), nor is BW stagnating when Nunes, Shevchenko, Pena, Pennington, and even Holm JUST broke through to the top 5 in little within practically the past year. The whole top 5 of BW has been displaced except for Ronda and yet 135 is the stagnant one? It's an illusion based on people liking younger prospects and as you say "dynamic" ie. smaller and faster fighters.

 

[HaikenEdge]

It's not 'a lot' deeper, there are barely more SWs than BWs worldwide (source: Tapology), nor is BW stagnating when Nunes, Shevchenko, Pena, Pennington, and even Holm JUST broke through to the top 5 in little within practically the past year. The whole top 5 of BW has been displaced except for Ronda and yet 135 is the stagnant one? It's an illusion based on people liking younger prospects and as you say "dynamic" ie. smaller and faster fighters.

You're probably right; it's probably more of a perception thing, though in my case, it's probably because I feel like the same names have been in the top 10 of WBW for years, while the top 10 at WSW seems to rearrange itself fairly often.

 

[DaGenius]

Women's mma won't die when Ronda retires but it's going to be basically all of those women will take a de facto pay cut. The interest simply won't be there immediately

Eventually there will be a new star who will get it going again. The UFC hopes that star is Kayla Harrison

 

[BigMuffler]

You're probably right; it's probably more of a perception thing, though in my case, it's probably because I feel like the same names have been in the top 10 of WBW for years, while the top 10 at WSW seems to rearrange itself fairly often.

Well Holm, Pennington, and Shevchenko are newer even to the top 10 and just broke straight through from below top 10 to top 5 lol. And Pena was ranked top 10 long ago but then MIA for a long time due to injury.

 

[Better Every Day]

Without Rousey, I honestly have not watched a full WMMA bantamweight fight simply because they are so fucking boring

The Fight Of The Night at the just concluded Fight Night Sacramento was the women's bantamweight fight between Leslie Smith and Irene Aldana. Not boring.

 

[Xaero]

The UFC hype machine will find another WMMA person to hype.

 

[HaikenEdge]

Well Holm, Pennington, and Shevchenko are newer even to the top 10 and just broke straight through from below top 10 to top 5 lol. And Pena was ranked top 10 long ago but then MIA for a long time due to injury.

While true, it also feels like Zingano, McMann, and Carmouche have been in the top 10 forever, and Alexis Davis and Jessica Eye only recently got bumped out of the top 10.

 

[Large Hound 77]

been way more entertaining in the last 12 months...

 

[BigMuffler]

While true, it also feels like Zingano, McMann, and Carmouche have been in the top 10 forever, and Alexis Davis and Jessica Eye only recently got bumped out of the top 10.

Yes but I hardly think there being no stability at all would be indicative of a better division, and anyway like half of the SW top 10 have been top 10 since the division was in the UFC too.

 

[capnlarge]

Rousey will definitely never fight at 115 and she may not fight at 145. So, the UFC has already introduced 2 (so far) Rousey-free womens divisions.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

She might be the biggest star in WMMA but Joanna is a draw, Cyborg is a draw and there are a lot of very marketable female fighters that could become big stars if they ever become the champ. So no, WMMA will be just fine without Rousey.

 

[HaikenEdge]

Yes but I hardly think there being no stability at all would be indicative of a better division, and anyway like half of the SW top 10 have been top 10 since the division was in the UFC too.

Division's a bit younger, though, isn't it? And Kowalkiewicz, Andrade, Waterson, Moroz and VanZant all had to move into the top 10 by bumping the TUF alum out.