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Home / Sport / UFC

Former wrestler claims Ronda Rousey lost on purpose

NZ Herald
1 Dec, 2015 06:47 PM4 mins to read

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Ronda Rousey following her defeat to Holly Holm. Photo / Getty

Ronda Rousey following her defeat to Holly Holm. Photo / Getty

A former professional wrestler has claimed the UFC convinced Ronda Rousey to deliberately lose her headline fight against Holly Holm in Melbourne last month.

The wrestler claimed the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is following the lead of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and contriving outcomes that best suit its commercial aspirations.

The previously unbeaten Rousey lost her UFC bantamweight title in front of more than 56,000 fans at Etihad Stadium when Holm knocked her out with a stunning kick in the second round.

According to former WWE star and two-time world heavyweight champion turned podcaster Taz, the loss was deliberate and what is referred to in the wrestling business as "work" - meaning Rousey deliberately lost as part of a wider strategic plan that was required to work in with her increasingly packed career schedule.

"The first thing that jumped out at me was, OK: I think the finish of the fight might have been rigged," Taz, whose real name is Peter Senerchia, said on his podcast, The Taz Show.

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"Let's say I am right. UFC would not be reinventing the wheel by fixing a fight. This was going on for 50, 60, 70, 80 years in boxing. This is not a new thing."

Rousey has a busy six months ahead of her which makes taking upcoming fights difficult. She is about to film two movies as she attempts to break into Hollywood. One is a remake of cult movie Roadhouse while the other is a biopic.

"Why are some people not seeing this?" Taz asked on his podcast.

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"This has been done in the wrestling industry for years. A guy or girl is going to take a break or go away, or has an injury that they have to tend to, whatever the reasons are, and they're a champion - you take the championship off of them.

"You do not want your champion sitting home or making a movie, 'Roadhouse 2? or whatever Rousey's going to do, or just needs a personal break, which she's earned. This girl's earned it. But you don't want that person sitting home for five, six, seven months with that championship. It's bad for business. Take the belt off her."

Taz pointed doubters to the fight footage to support his conspiracy theory.

"If you look at the actual KO - now, she did get nailed, Rousey, with several shots before the finish of the fight," he said.

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"Nothing that was like, 'Oh my god,' but she got popped a few times. But if you look at the actual knockout, as Rousey, she went for kind of a lazy punch or something - not lazy but she kind of missed - and as she spun to turn around her back was kind of turned to Holm.

And as she slowly turned, a high round kick, I believe it was the left foot, or left leg of Holm, catches Rousey, drops Rousey, and then Holm grounds and pounds for three shots - boom, boom, boom. Ref gets in the middle, fight's over, new champion Holly Holm."

Taz said he wasn't suggesting Rousey took a dive. She clearly got knocked out by Holm's head kick but he believes Rousey's poor fight tactics of aggressively attacking Holm in a stand up fight was a ploy she employed so Holm could beat her.

"I'm telling you right now, that whole series, was the work. And I'm not sure who was in on it and who wasn't but I know this much: the ref probably wasn't in on it. Maybe he was I don't know. Rousey was in on it - and again, this is all my opinion. Holm might not have been in on it."

UFC president Dana White hasn't bitten on the bizarre claims but continues to talk up a Rousey-Holm rematch.

"She's the mentally strongest f...ing athlete I've ever met in my life. When she gets over this loss, she's going to be a savage," White said of Rousey.

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"She was a maniac and a hard-worker when she was the best in the world. What's she going to be like now that she lost?

"The thing that makes this fight great again is Holly Holm. Now everybody knows how talented Holly Holm is and that Holly Holm is legit and Holly Holm is a workhorse, too. Both these two are going to take the next few months, go back in, start working on s..t, and they're going to clash again. And this second fight will be f...ing awesome."

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