Ronda Rousey: My MMA Striking Is The Best In The Game

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is obviously known for her dangerous armbars. She’s used her favorite move to make each one of her eight MMA opponents tap out. Even though they know it’s coming, they simply can’t stop it.

But heading into her UFC 170 title bout against Olympic silver medalist wrestler Sara McMann this Saturday in Las Vegas, Rousey has been focused on shoring up other aspects of her game. She’s been hard at work making sure her striking has caught up to her grappling.

Despite being an Olympic bronze medal-winning judoka, Rousey believes her standup has progressed to another level. Speaking in today’s edition of USA TODAY, Rousey believes she now has the best striking in all of women’s MMA:

“My MMA striking is the best in the game. It definitely is a challenge. With judo I spent so many years with a certain posture that the hardest thing was adjusting it. I’ve reached a certain level of competition where what’s required out of striking to come into the clinch to grapple is a lot more complicated than at the lower levels. It requires much more high-level footwork and striking to be able to use grappling at all.”

Rousey, never one to hold back her true feelings, makes quite the brash statement regarding her still-developing striking. Her head coach Edmond Tarverdyan recently stated that Rousey was dropping boxing world champions with body shots in training. And while Rousey has never even come close to finishing a foe with strikes, it’s her never-ending dedication to being the best that makes her progress so fast in anything she does.

Rousey knows that she still has a long way to go before her striking catches up to the high level exhibited by the male fighters in the Octagon, but she said to give the still-burgeoning women’s MMA some time to catch up:

“It’s a younger side of the sport that’s still developing. It’s going to need a little more time before we can reach the same standard the guys are at because they had a big head start.”

That’s probably true, as women’s MMA has just recently exploded in popularity within the last year, thanks in large to Rousey’s popularity. Regardless, she’ll have her hands full against the also undefeated McMann.

McMann has never been knocked out, but with UFC 170’s main event marking the first time that two Olympic grapplers will face off in UFC, it could end up being contested mainly on the feet. McMann isn’t exactly known for her striking skills, so Rousey could indeed have the edge.

Has “Rowdy’s” standup come far enough to defeat a top-level opponent on the feet?

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports