Morning Report: Joe Rogan: I shouldn’t have said Ronda Rousey could beat half the male bantamweights in the UFC
Sometimes all it takes is a good old-fashioned beatdown to make you see the error of your ways. Fortunately for Joe Rogan, he wasn’t the one who had to take one for him to figure out that some of his previous takes on Ronda Rousey were scalding hot.
At the height of Rousey’s dominance, her cross-over appeal was such that non-MMA fans began speculating on who could possibly beat her and some of the opinions were rather outlandish. One of the major #hottakes during this time was the idea that Rousey would be more than a match for many of the male bantamweights in the UFC, an idea Joe Rogan himself help perpetuate.
Previously, Rogan has stated that he was okay with a Rousey-Bryan Caraway fight should the UFC want to make it and that Rousey would beat 50 percent of the male UFC bantamweights, saying, “There's a lot of guys her size she could beat. I mean, a lot. If you took the roster of the UFC's bantamweights, 135 pounds, and you paired them up against Ronda Rousey, she might be able to beat 50 percent of them. That's not a joke." He also defended this statement a couple of weeks later saying that a much larger opponent like Johny Hendricks would “most likely beat her up” but that against similarly sized opponents she could “easily” catch them in a scramble due to her technical superiority.
Well, Rogan is now no longer willing to stand on that hill. In the most recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan was discussing a joke he performed in his stand-up routine about not allowing women to guard the White House and the backlash he got from audience members about it. In the course of the discussion, Rogan walked back his statements about Rousey’s ability to dominate men in the UF, saying that he shouldn’t have joined in on the hype.
“I’m not happy that Ronda Rousey lost but in a way, it makes things easier because there was a bunch of f**kin’ people going, ‘Oh yeah, what about Ronda Rousey?” And I made the mistake saying - hyperbole. I’m the master of hyperbole, I exaggerate all the time - I was like, ‘She could probably beat half the men bantamweights in the UFC.’
“That’s definitely not true. I shouldn’t have said it at the time, now it’s definitely not true. She could beat a few that aren’t good outside the sport. Look, if she gets guys on the ground she could f**k a lot of people up. Her Judo is 100 percent legit, her armbars are amongst the best in the business but people were always saying that... Thank god now that she’s lost everyone’s relaxed with that.”
Now we just have to find out if he’d still pick Rousey in a fight against Floyd Mayweather.
MUST-READ STORIES
Fedor. Fedor Emelianenko explains why he chose to sign with Bellator instead of the UFC.
Rematch. Germaine de Randamie offers to rematch Holly Holm after accusations that she’s a “dirty fighter.”
Objection. New York says the UFC did not object to the referee assignments for UFC 208.
$$$. New York State made $37.4 million from UFC 205, according to a study.
MEDIA STEW
Monday Morning Analyst.
This PPV is my favorite thing about the first quarter of this year.
Tommy finally returns.
Charles Bennett being very honest and saying he only fights because he needs the money. Also, don’t give credence to anything he says after that.
LISTEN UP
Anik and Flo.
Iain Kidd joins to discuss why flyweight is adversely affected by the morning weigh-in rules. Also, some Cyborg-USADA talk.
Brit Pack.
TWEETS
Can’t find the actual Facebook post but here’s a screenshot.
Derek Brunson on the Silva fight.
UFC 208 in summary (probably a good read): To those who say move on. Leave your house unlocked and let someone come in...
Posted by Derek Brunson on Monday, February 13, 2017
Coming in hot.
Rewatched the Holly Holm vs JDR fight. It's not even a debate who won. I have it Holly 49-44 (points taken) 49-46 without #ufc208
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) February 13, 2017
Also, if I was a champion or contender I would NOT fight in New York. They clearly are not ready for this level of mixed martial arts.
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) February 13, 2017
Anyone who says "Can't leave it to the judges" either never fought or is a moron. It's 2017! Judges have to take responsibility.
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) February 13, 2017
Joanna shooting down the rumors.
Plotki | Rumor
Posted by Joanna Jedrzejczyk on Monday, February 13, 2017
Lol.
For crying out loud Forrest shoot he gonna take your head off https://t.co/olaksjrQAt
— Forrest Griffin (@ForrestGriffin) February 14, 2017
But then again I didn't shoot on Anderson so... https://t.co/09XG2X9Bej
— Forrest Griffin (@ForrestGriffin) February 14, 2017
Fare thee well.
Would watch the s**t out of this training session.
This is a great photo.
Whatever you think of Tim Kennedy, this ish is impressive.
What a picture.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rafael Lovato Jr. (4-0) vs. Wayman Carter (6-4); Bellator 174, March 3.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
2013: Eduardo Dantas knocked out Marcos Galvao to retain the Bellator bantamweight championship at Bellator 89.
2015: Ben Henderson submitted Brandon Thatch in the main event of UFC Fight Night 60.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This has absolutely nothing to do with MMA but I laughed a lot and sometimes that’s all anyone needs.
Happy Valentine’s Day to those who care about it (gonna go ahead and assume that isn’t a lot of you considering our general demographics, but regardless). Hope y’all have a good one or at least that you don’t hate it too much. Lilies are better than roses (#hottake) and see y’all tomorrow.
If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.