Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey believes Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest fighter of all time.
There are few things that MMA fans love more than debating greatness. Naturally, names such as Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, and more are thrown into the ‘GOAT’ discussion. Even the likes of UFC CEO Dana White have chimed in, with the promoter labeling ‘Bones’ as the greatest fighter ever.
Speaking in a recent interview with TalkSport MMA, Ronda Rousey was asked to chime in on the debate. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion is currently doing a press tour for her new book and recently called herself the GOAT of women’s MMA. That quickly earned criticism from former rivals such as Cris Cyborg.
However, when it comes to MMA in general, Ronda Rousey has to tip her cap to Fedor Emelianenko. ‘The Last Emperor’ finally retired from fighting last year, after a historic career. Despite never fighting in the UFC, the Russian defeated multiple former champions such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Frank Mir, Mark Coleman, and more.
Ronda Rousey explained in the interview, that she’s personally a fan of Fedor Emelinanenko’s sambo background. While that’s a big reason why she likes the legend, she also praised his 2005 classic against Mirko Cro Cop. Rousey added that the bout is arguably her favorite MMA fight of all time.
Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey names Fedor Emelianenko as her MMA GOAT
“Besides myself?” Ronda Rousey responded while laughing in the interview with TalkSport MMA when asked who her pick for the greatest fighter of all time is. “I’m just a geek for Fedor [Emelianenko] dude. I think Fedor, in his time, he had it all. He has a relationship with Judo too, and I’m a big Judo nerd. Sambo is basically Russian Judo, so I have to say him. Him versus Cro Cop is my favorite match of all-time.”
While Ronda Rousey believes Fedor Emelianenko is the GOAT, she doesn’t believe he’s perfect. When asked how a fight between the Russian and Jon Jones would go, the former UFC champion stated:
“Oh, dude, Jon Jones wouldn’t even need to train and he would win. That’s just the most Jon Jones thing ever. He would get off the boat from the Bahamas and just go in there and win. It’s like, goddamn it! I trained my ass off and Jon Jones just shows up and wins!”
What do you make of these comments from former UFC champion Ronda Rousey? Do you believe that Fedor Emelianenko is in the GOAT conversation?
