One of the big discussions in MMA recently is can Ronda Rousey beat Floyd Mayweather. A who’s who of MMA personalities have weighed in on this subject including champions Jon Jones and Anthony Pettis, as well as UFC President Dana White, more than once. This debate may sound silly at first but when you delve into it doesn’t seem so farfetched to suggest Rousey may win, so here is my take on the situation, and a list of some other MMA candidates that could get the job done against the number one boxer on the planet.
For many people, even contemplating that a female fighter would have any chance against Floyd Mayweather is unquestionable, and if you are talking about straight up boxing, I agree there is no contest. If Rousey and Mayweather squared up in the ring, Floyd would have his way with the female champion as he is a much more skilled boxer, being he has devoted over a decade to the sport.
When you start talking about a MMA style contest then things get a little more interesting. Adding in the element of takedowns and submissions means Rousey stands a lot greater chance of this fight being a close contest as being a former Olympic judoka, and current undefeated UFC champion, her m.o. is grabbing you, throwing you on your head, and then pulling your arm off.
If this fight were to ever happen, under mixed martial arts rules, I believe Floyd would more than likely seek to push away Rousey and keep her at distance with his jab, and use his footwork and speed to try and pick Rousey apart from the outside. I think this could work well for Floyd, until the inevitable happens and Rousey gets a hold of him. Many fighters have tried to stay away from Rousey’s clinch and judo throws but no one has survived yet and I don’t believe Floyd could avoid the clinch for an entire fight. If Rousey got a hold of the boxer, she would easily be able to throw and submit him, as this is an area of which Mayweather has never trained.
Both of these fighters weigh around the same come fight night with Rousey competing at 135lbs and Floyd ranging from 130lbs to 154lbs. although both weighing around the same, Floyd is clearly the bigger and more muscular fighter, as well as the fact that he has a six inch reach advantage over Rousey, this will give his boxing a further, all be it unneeded edge over Ronda’s. this size and strength advantage may help Floyd when it comes to the clinch to get away from Rousey, and I would say this could be a major factor is Mayweather was fighting any other MMA fighter in the world, but the shear level of Rousey’s judo I believe makes up for the strength advantage with unparalleled technique from the former Olympian.
In conclusion, the fight would go one of two ways. Either Floyd would land a clean KO punch very quickly in the contest, or Rousey would grab Mayweather, flip him inside out and then submit him quickly. Either way I wouldn’t see the contest lasting over a round and I sincerely believe 9 times out of ten Rousey would take this one.
Fighter who would give Floyd problems
If Floyd were to enter MMA he would most definitely fight at bantamweight, but there are a lot of guys I believe would cause him grief at that weight class.
Urijah Faber
One of the quickest and strongest bantamweights in the world Urijah Faber, with his heavy takedown and submission game could very well shut down Floyd easily if they fought. i believe that Faber’s top of the food chain wrestling could easily takedown a one dimensional fighter like Floyd and his super-fast guillotine would be more than enough to finish the boxer. I also believe that the sheer amount of experience Faber has would help him as he has faced numerous KO boxers in his career and beaten pretty much all of them. The only question here is that Faber has lost his last six title fights, would this bad omen follow him into the cage with Floyd Mayweather? No one knows, but I think that would be the boxer’s only chance against The California Kid.
George Roop
Standing six feet one inch tall, UFC veteran George Roop could give Floyd a lot of trouble based on size alone. Roop is an imposing figure at 135lbs being a former lightweight and featherweight, he has a deceptive strength advantage against a lot of fighters. This strength mixed with his rangy kickboxing style means he could keep Floyd away from him with a healthy appetite of push kicks, keeping Floyd at a range where he can’t hit Roop but George can hit him. I believe if Roop did this and unloaded with constant leg kicks he could TKO the boxer or even get a sneaky head kick KO like his fight with Chan Sung Jung. Floyd’s saving grace here would be Roop’s notorious chin up stance and history of getting KO’ be strong strikers, but I still believe Roop could win this one.
Renan Barao
The 34-1 bantamweight prodigy Renan Barao could prove the most interesting match-up on paper for Floyd, but one I believe Barao would unquestionably dominate. Barao is pretty much the same size as Mayweather, and I believe can rival the boxers speed on the feet, where this gets interesting though is Barao’s striking style. Barao is a flashy striker throwing spinning back kicks, front kicks and a steady stream of fast hands and head movement. I think this striking style, like Roop, could keep Floyd on the outside and force him into a kicking exchange that Floyd obviously cannot win. The thing about the UFC bantamweight champion though is he is also exceptional on the ground. If and when Barao would take Floyd down the boxer would have no chance whatsoever, as Barao has probably the best submission game in the division and the only worry Renan would have would be which submission he would want to choose to win the fight.
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