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Message: [QUOTE="Towney007, post: 2904672, member: 5832"] As a fighter? No, not at all. Ronda was a dead woman walking about a year in. At that point in history, women's MMA was low on talent. Really low, actually. The sport evolved past her even before she lost the belt. She was the best in the UFC (not all of MMA, that was Cyborg) for a brief period of time when the sport in a female context was relatively young. DeRandime was coming into the sport, Holly Holm had crossed over, ditto with Valentina Shevchenko... etc. Amanda Nunes wasn't getting any level, but her length, size... all of it.. made it clear she'd be a huge player. Ronda didn't get 'out game planned' by Holly Holm, she got murdered by a vastly superior athlete who was 7 whole years older than her. Just the way Holly managed space, her speed, snap on her strikes.. Ronda couldn't read anything. And even in the clinch - where Holm by today's standards just isn't very good - Holly used her size to lock her up and leverage her.. Rousey couldn't move her, really. Holly even took her down. Sure, Ronda's coach sucks and the game plan was even worse - and she completely bought into her hype... but i'm not sure even had she been at say - ATT or some other really good camp and had them strategizing for her... that it'd have made any real difference. Even when Holly lost the belt to Tate - she boxed her up pretty effortlessly minus the two times she got taken down - one of which she got 10-8'd on the mat and the other where she got choked out. Once Tate faced Nunes, we saw that big skill gap again.. and saw it double time when Nunes boxed up Ronda in their fight. Save for a brief period of time where she was running through mostly tomato cans (Zingano is legit, but not elite) - she wasn't ever the best. But Ronda the superstar and big money draw? I mean... there's little disputing it. They marketed their pants off and she played the part to a 'T'. Conor is a similar deal - VERY good striker, good fighter and a big chin... and he can sell fights better than anyone on the planet. But he's got HUGE holes in his game and real, legitimate physical limitations at 155 lbs. Give him anyone with range who can mix looks up with some grappling, he struggles badly. But there's no questioning either one's star and drawing power. None. [/QUOTE]

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