Ronda Rousey has called on more MMA fighters to think like skilled wrestlers in a single specific regard.
Speaking through the Media Scrum following the MVP MMA press conference in Latest York on Wednesday, Rousey conceded that MMA is a legitimate sport but added that it didn’t mean it needed to be with out a story.
“It’s sport, but just like the Olympics is a sport and folks only watch it every 4 years because it is not entertainment. I mean I’m not gonna watch swimming every weekend, sorry. People need to appreciate that, yes they’re athletes, they’re doing a sport, nevertheless it is your job to even be an entertainer and to get people excited about your fight.”
Rousey said she draws on her experience with WWE in skilled wrestling from 2017-23 on and off, excited about what she will be able to do to make her fights more interesting and sell fans on greater than just the actual sport of it.
“Something I sort of learned in pro wrestling is, each time we might have a match we might ask ourselves, ‘What is the story of the match?’ So I’d advise everybody in MMA, any match-up uou have, think, ‘What’s the story of my match? What’s something unique that just the 2 of us bring to the table that you just would never see in another match-up?'”
“Put a whole lot of thought into it, don’t just show up and be like, ‘I do not really care because I’m too cool for this.’ Like right yeah you are really awesome, you are so cool nevertheless it’s not your job to be cool. It’s to get people to look at your f***ing fight so please give it some thought.”
Rousey shall be fighting Gina Carano in her comeback fight streaming on Netflix on May 16, headlining the primary MVP MMA event. They’ve each been putting over the redemption and closure element of their returns, Rousey coming 10 years since she was knocked out in lower than a minute by Amanda Nunes, and Carano coming 17 years since she was defeated similarly in round one by Cris Cyborg.