Rousey runs out of opponents
The ease with which Ronda Rousey has disposed of each opponent has helped make her a legitimate superstar.
It also has left Strikeforce with the dilemma of finding suitable challengers for its women’s bantamweight champion.
Former champion Miesha Tate is the only fighter to have lasted more than a minute with Rousey in any of her nine combined pro and amateur fights, finally losing the belt to Rousey after more than four minutes in March.
Tate gained a thrilling victory on the undercard of Saturday’s card in San Diego that Rousey headlined with a 54-second submission of Sarah Kaufman.
Tate, however, appears to have no interest in stepping in with Rousey again.
“I’m not going to ask for that at this point because I don’t feel that I deserve it,” said Tate, who submitted Julie Kedzie in the third-round of a back-and-forth fight. “I think I need to take a couple fights and I need a better performance than that. I think the fans deserve something better, and I know that I can deliver better than that.”
The logical next match for Rousey would be a superfight against Cris “Cyborg” Santos, who was stripped as the featherweight champion after a positive steroid test in December. Her suspension ends this December, but she has indicated dropping to 135 pounds to fight Rousey is not in her best interest.
Still, Rousey took the opportunity to call out Santos inside the cage after the victory Saturday.
“I need to send out a challenge to Ms. Cy-roid out there,” Rousey yelled into the Showtime microphone. “People want to see the first fair fight of your life. I’m the champ now. The champ doesn’t go to you, you go to the champ. Come down to 135 and let’s settle this.”
Santos doesn’t appear interested, though Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says he is “cautiously optimistic” the fight can be made at some point.
He is more sure about the future of women’s fighting in general.
“Female mixed martial arts is here to stay. Look at the fights tonight,” he said after Saturday’s card. “They were unbelievable. They’re great athletes and I think they showed that again.”
■ SONNEN MOVES UP – Chael Sonnen has his sights set on a different belt after making two unsuccessful challenges for Anderson Silva’s middleweight title.
Sonnen announced last week he would move back up to 205 pounds and begin a quest for the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title held by Jon Jones.
Sonnen’s first challenge will be Las Vegan Forrest Griffin on the UFC 155 card Dec. 29 in Las Vegas. Griffin has a 2003 victory over Sonnen.
Sonnen, a famed trash-talker, already is using his immense verbal abilities to target Jones, calling him a “dork” and a “little punk kid” on a television show last week and then referencing Jones’ drunk driving arrest and recent Nike endorsement deal on Twitter.
UFC 155 will be headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Cain Velasquez and champion Junior dos Santos.
■ UFC ON FOX 5 – Benson Henderson will defend the UFC lightweight title against Nate Diaz on network television, headlining the organization’s final Fox card of the year Dec. 8. The bout will mark only the second time a title is on the line on a Fox event and the first since the inaugural show last November.
UFC on Fox 5 is shaping up to be a big event, as it also has been selected as the new date for the postponed fight between BJ Penn and rising welterweight star Rory MacDonald.
Alexander Gustafsson likely will have a chance to earn a shot at the light heavyweight title as he fights former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.