Is Ronda Rousey Unstoppable?

Who's up next for Ronda Rousey and who's '0' will go?!

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

Ronda Rousey proved again at UFC 168, that it will take something or someone very special to pull off a victory against her. With another stunning performance defeating Miesha Tate 58 seconds into the 3rd round via her trade mark 'arm bar' to retain the women's bantamweight title.

Though Ronda didn't have all the things her own way, Miesha put up a valiant performance in the first and second round even escaping from a deep arm bar and then rocking Ronda a few times whilst the fight was standing.

Tate made a few errors in the fight, and I was slightly bemused by her fight plan. Trying to take Ronda down and beat her at her own game? Sorry, but this was a massive mistake. You could see when the fight was standing, Tate got the better of the striking, landing some crisp powerful shots that were hurting Ronda. But critically, then wasted heaps of energy trying to take down a former Olympic Judo bronze medallist to the ground.

With Tate having little success other than when the fight was standing, Ronda showed her true skills. Sweeping Tate and landing some powerful takedowns. Once down Ronda looked in her comfort zone and was only a matter of time being the inevitable happened.

Going into the third round with Tate running out of ideas and energy the end was nigh. It wasn't long before Ronda secured the take down and locked in the arm bar forcing Tate to tap right away. There wasn't any danger this time of Tate seeing her arm hyper extended once again.

With the fight over and Tate offering her hand to Ronda in congratulations it was Ronda that snubbed the opportunity to settle the beef and instead turned her back and refused.

I don't want to get into a debate about whether it was good or bad for the sport as that's another topic. Though I do think we as fans get suckered in by a hatred between fighters, only to be put behind them once the fight is over. You know with Ronda, if you piss her off its a grudge match you're going to loss!!

Who's Up First For Ronda?

Shortly after the fight, the UFC were quick to announce that UFC 170 will be headlined by Ronda Rousey and unbeaten fighter Sara McMann (7-0) which will take place on the 22nd February 2014 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay.

With the exception of Cat Zingano, who was originally scheduled to be TUF 18 coach and go head to head with Ronda but was forced to pull out due to a knee injury that needed surgery, forcing Miesha Tate to step in as a late replacement.

This is the next best fight the fans would like to see!

With the champion being an Olympic Judoka bronze medallist and McMann being a Olympic Wrestler silver medallist, both not blessed with the same striking skills. This will be a fight of who can dominate on the ground. Can McMann stop the arm bar? can Ronda take McMann down? who will be the stronger? Or will the fight negate itself and we see a stand up fight for 5 rounds?

All these questions will be answered come 22nd February, though I for one am a lot more excited to see this fight than I was the Tate rematch.

Cat Zinagno:

Cat Zinagno (8-0) has been promised by Dana White, that she will get the chance to fight the winner of the Ronda vs McMann, and rightfully so in my eyes.

She's been very unfortunate with the knee injury that caused her to miss out being a TUF coach. Not only for that, but also for people to see more in the spotlight and get to know her a little better over the weeks of the TUF series to gather more fans.

Being out for this time she is being a forgotten fighter, though I'm sure if she ends up fighting Ronda or McMann we will be in for a real treat.


Finally with Ronda only fighting twice last year, the news she will be back so soon and be more active in 2014 is not only great news for the UFC but also for the fans.

With GSP taking an indefinite leave of absence and Anderson Silva suffering a horrific leg break against Chris Weidman on Saturday night, I can see the UFC trying to push her as hard, and as fast as they can, to be the new face of the promotion.

Miesha Tate: An unwanted surprise in to face Ronda Rousey

Miesha Tate replaces injured Cat Zingano for coaches role on TUF 18

by John Haigh @JohnBJayHaigh

Filming for season 18 of TUF Rousey vs. Zingano began on Tuesday but there was a huge shock in store for UFC women’s champ Ronda Rousey. Cat Zingano blew her knee out while training on May 16th.
Rousey did not know about Zingano’s injury... nobody did, it was a very well kept secret by the UFC and when Miesha Tate walked out in the UFC training centre she was clearly shocked and stormed out of the gym looking for UFC President Dana White. She later said she was angry because she thought she was the one being replaced, apparently?

Rousey, though, was pleased with the change.
“This is what we really wanted all along,” Rousey told Yahoo! Sports. “Everyone said an Ultimate Fighter between me and Miesha would be the best. We have a personal history with each other and this is a personal show. For some reason, me and Miesha are intertwined in fate like Ali and Frazier or something like that."

“I think people will look back at this as one of the monumental rivalries and look back at this as one of those things that really cemented women’s MMA.”
Tate said she was disappointed that it had took an injury to Zingano to get the spot on the show but felt she was winning the fight with Zingano when referee Kim Winslow stopped the fight. A lot of people agree with Tate it was a fight full of controversy that we at Kingdom MMA took time to discuss – http://www.kingdommma.co.uk/2013/04/kingdom-mma-roundtable-on-talking.html

Tate said she was thrilled to not only get the spot on the show but also the shot at the tittle and to see Rousey get visibly angry when she appeared.
“It was rewarding to see that,” she said. “I was like, ‘Yay! This is getting good.’ I watched her go to her corner and her corner was up in arms. I was just sitting there in the doorway thinking, ‘This is awesome.’"
“I felt I was cheated a little in that fight with Cat. I had two solid rounds and one not-so-good round. Either way, I felt I was meant to be here and it’s come full circle.”

Season 18 of TUF will be on our screens in September and is part of the new Fox Sports 1 channel in the states, I believe this will be on BT Sports in the UK as part of the new TV deal. The coaches are slated to fight December 28th and that fight could turn out to be one of the most anticipated fights of the year.

This is also the first season to feature women coaches with men and women’s divisions in the competition.
Added to that the rivalry between the two coaches, these two really don’t like each other and have history as Rousey took the title from Tate under the now defunct Strikeforce promotion in 2011. It was that fight which got UFC president Dana White’s interest in women’s fighting. To that point, White had maintained that the UFC would be men-only.

Zingano underwent surgery on her right knee on Tuesday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, as well as to clean up other damage. She said she injured the knee as she came down after clearing a short hurdle.

“I was doing my regular routine, my strength and conditioning,” Zingano told Yahoo! Sports by telephone shortly before she was wheeled into surgery. “I was jumping over tunnels that were about 12 inches high. I’d jumped over them like 10 times already. This one time, I jumped up and my left knee came down right on track and my right knee bent outward."

Zingano said she will be able to resume training in six to nine months. She said the most crushing part of the injury is that she will lose the opportunity to fight Rousey for the belt. She said White promised her she would have the first shot at the Tate-Rousey winner.

Dana white said it made more sense for Tate to fill the spot on the show rather than one of the others in the UFC’s women’s division.
“But with Miesha, she and Ronda already had a great fight and they have a history together. They don’t like each other. We’ll make it work. We always do. You know how I say every day when I wake up, I know some bad [expletive] is going to happen? Well, this was one of them, but we’re doing the best we can here.”

Expect an explosive season with these two coaching and the men and women competing on the show all living under one roof.

Kingdom MMA Roundtable on the talking points from the Tate vs Zingano fight

Kingdom MMA discuss the potential controversy from Saturday nights women's no 1 contender contest

by Ben Heather @benheather

Since Saturday night it seems that everyone who saw the Miesha Tate vs Cat Zingano fight this weekend at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale has been debating some talking points from the fight. So now the guys at Kingdom MMA will throw our opinions in to the hat for you all to read.

Was the fight stopped Early?

Chris: For well over a year its seems the standing joke amongst MMA fans on twitter is that Kim Wimslow is going to end up letting someone die in the cage, with her late stoppages. While this is a gross over exaggeration, you have to admit she has put some fighters in serious danger since her debut. Controversy is never far away in a Wimslow officiated fight, and it appears this fight was no exception.

I've seen a lot of people talk about an illegal knee, the fight was stopped too soon etc. but to be honest I think Wimslow did a pretty good job in this one, in fact one could argue she would have been justified to stop the fight before Tate even stood up - from my point of view Tate certainly wasn't fighting back or intelligently defending herself.

John: When I watched the fight live I thought it was stopped early but after watching it a few more times I think the stoppage came at the correct time. Tate had just eaten four well placed knees followed by an elbow that dropped her against the cage. I think she was one shot away from lights out.

Ben: If I am honest I thought at the time that Tate was taking punishment which she did not need to take at the end of the fight and not wisely protecting herself. When she took the four consecutive knees to the head that ended the fight as a battle and could have been stopped then. By the time the elbow came in Tate did not know where she was.

Watching the fight back..... A LOT, there is no way that Tate was going for a take down. She dropped and put her hands on the floor. She didn't drop and grab Cat's legs and at that point Kim Wimslow saved Tate from any further punishment.

Were the knees legal at the end of the fight?

Chris: While I would have been happy for the fight to be stopped on the ground, when Tate managed to get up the first knee that landed certainly did look illegal. That being said I don't think there was any malicious intent there, and realistically the damage was already done. Personally I would be keen for a review of the definition of a downed opponent - a finger on the floor does not make you a downed opponent if you ask me.

Ben: The opinion I take on this is that if it was illegal it was so close that you can't blame Kim Wimslow for letting the fight continue. If it was such a big talking point and as controversial as some people on the Internet have been making it out to be, then why didn't Jon Anik and Kenny Florian mention it.... at all!! The answer is because in my opinion there is nothing to discuss.

John: I think the first one was, just. Tate was just about to stand up as Zingano was throwing the first knee. Its not like Tate was trying to stay a downed opponent she was fighting her way back to a stand up position.

What you thought of Tate's conduct after rd 1. (Pushing Cat's face away)  

Ben: This to me was the most controversial moment of the whole fight and it seems to have been swept under the carpet. As far as I am concerned what Tate did was a punk move!! She had no reason to put her hands on Cat's face after the buzzer. I was backing Tate going in to this fight but as soon as she did that I wanted Cat to make her pay and was pleased when she got the TKO finish in the third.

John: No matter what people say before or during a fight, if you like the person you are fighting or not you should never put your hands on an opponent in between rounds or after the fight. You are martial artists who do this as a job and not some drunken yobs fighting on a night out, LEARN SOME RESPECT.

Chris: Someone needs to explain the whole martial artist = respect thing to the Tate / Caraway family. From Tate pushing off Zingano's face to stand up, to Caraway promising violence on women his girlfriend can't beat, it's terrible behaviour and one can't help but feel they got what's coming to them.

Who wins the UFC Women's bantamweight title fight Cat or Ronda?

Chris: While Zingano certainly could have success on the feet against Rousey, I see the fight going just like all the other Rousey fights. Zingano proved she is good on the ground in the Tate fight but she did end up in a Tate armbar at one point in time, and although she managed to defend it and eventually escape, Rousey will take her arm home if Zingano allows her anywhere near it. Expect a ferocious few minutes of dirty boxing against the cage, followed by Rousey take down, Rousey armbar attempt, Rousey first round submission victory.

John: I think this is Rousey’s toughest opponent yet no doubt. I think Rousey will have to come out pressuring from the start and try and get her trade arm bar quick before Zingano gets going. Zingano over powers Rousey all day long, if she finds her range early Rousey’s in trouble. Remember Rousey nearly came unstuck against Liz Carmouche when she took her back and was really cranking on Rousey’s neck but couldn’t quite sink it in fully. Should be an interesting fight to watch.

Ben: Cat's heart and determination to get through some tough times in the first two rounds against Tate makes me think that she may be the first person to take Rousey to the second round.

However the way Rousey has dominated all opponents and even though they all know and I imagine trained non stop on preventing and getting out of armbars she has still locked on and got the tap. I can't see anyone taking the belt away from Ronda anytime soon.

In the end somebody will be picking up that first career loss and if the women's fights in the UFC have been anything to go by so far, what I can guarantee is that it will be an absolute war.

UFC The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale Main Card Results - Cat Zingano vs Miesha Tate

Cat Zingano defeats Miesha Tate by TKO Round 3, 2:55

by John Haigh @JohnBjayHaigh

The second women’s fight in the UFC took place in Las Vegas on Saturday night at the TUF 17 finale.

From the opening bell Miesha Tate (13-4) started strong and was the constant aggressor, usually its Cat Zingano (8-0) as the early aggressor. Tate bombarded Zingano for the first round scoring takedowns and out striking Zingano on the feet.

Round two was mostly the same as the first, Tate again took Zingano to the mat and had her in trouble with a heel hook attempt but couldn’t quite lock it in. Zingano managed to fight her way out of danger with a reversal and turned the tide late in the round bloodying Tate up with a ground and pound attack. A very close round to call.

With Tate winning the first round and the second being very hard to call Zingano had to go for it at the start of the third and she certainly did that, finding her strength in the third and final round. Zingano took Tate to the mat and launched another ground and pound attack, landing punches and elbows. Tate did get the fight back to the feet but Zingano continued the pressure landing four straight knees to the head that had Tate dazed up against the cage . Zingano delivered one well placed elbow that dropped Tate to the mat, the referee had seen enough and called a stop to the action.

Zingano was very complimentary towards Tate after the fight saying “To be honest, I looked up to Miesha since I started this sport. I was scared to death of her, but I had no time to show it,”
“This is a dream come true. Everything that’s happened in my life has led me to this day.”

With the victory Zingano’s dream continues not only has she added to her undefeated streak but gets the chance to coach against Rhonda Rousey on TUF 18, the first series which will be coached by female coaches. Most importantly she gets her shot at the belt around Rousey’s waist, when the two meet at the end of the season.

Some will say it was a poor stoppage by the referee and Tate wasn’t given a chance to fight back. There was also a few other talking point within this fight and the Kingdom MMA staff will go in to this in detail later.
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