Chael Sonnen gave his opinion on recent comments made by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani that Ronda Rousey could be considered overrated.
Ronda Rousey is without a doubt one of the most influential fighters in UFC history, if not the most influential. She helped normalize women’s MMA after UFC president Dana White suggested that women would never compete in his promotion.
Rousey became arguably the promotion’s biggest star during her UFC bantamweight reign. This included a 14-second victory over Cat Zingano at UFC 184 and a brutal knockout of Beth Correia at UFC 190.
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Despite her success in the Octagon, Helwani claimed during a recent episode of The MMA Hour that Rousey is arguably MMA’s most overrated female fighter. This sparked a debate on social media among fans and experts alike.
During a recent video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen explained why he believes Helwani’s stance has some value when it comes to evaluating Rousey’s career.
“(Ariel Helwani) talked about Ronda being the most overrated fighter ever. Now that’s going to hurt someone’s feelings. I do not want to. The story of Ronda and Ronda’s career is amazing,” Sonnen said of Rousey. “But when you study the story, there are a few things that come up. Being the most overrated fighter of all time isn’t as insulting as it sounds… You’re talking about the ability to command the world’s attention. It starts with a big compliment.”
Ariel Helwani’s view on Ronda Rousey is justified by Chael Sonnen.
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Sonnen went on to point out the differences between the beginning of Rousey’s UFC career and the end, when she shockingly lost title fights to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
“How did she do it? How did she fool everyone? And How did she get everyone to believe something that clearly wasn’t there? We just didn’t know where the division was,” Sonnen said. “They got one of them right (José Aldo) and one wrong (Rousey)… The division was brand new. She was leaps and bounds better than who we thought was the number one, number two, three candidate.
“For example, Amanda Nunes had no problem with Ronda, a very uncompetitive match. She wasn’t from a different generation, didn’t change weight classes…same age, same everything. We just didn’t know where Amanda should be placed, and that’s why we didn’t have her placed, and that’s why we didn’t put her there (for a while) for the title. The same goes for Holly Holm.
Sonnen summed up his argument by pointing out how the UFC has dictated Rousey’s career.
“The division was too new. We haven’t had enough fights yet. That’s where this over-the-top business comes from,” Sonnen said of Rousey. “The narrative of Ronda is one of great prosperity… What was her secret? What caught her eye? … There was maneuvering. There has been manipulation. A lot of really smart things were done. Ronda’s story was great for promotion.
“The boss came out and said, ‘This is the biggest star in the sport.’ I went to her fight in person when she fought Sara McMann. This was at the height of her popularity; it was a world title defense. The building held 13,800 people, we had 7,500 people. She went on to defend her title against Liz Carmouche in the first female-led UFC main event at UFC 157 before successfully making five more title defenses.
Rousey is now retired from MMA and transitioned to a career in professional wrestling after losing to Nunes at UFC 207. Ronda was the first UFC female fighter to be included in Hall of Fame.
Rousey is undoubtedly a UFC legend, but her legacy is complicated in the eyes of some UFC fans. Her exact place among the greatest fighters in UFC history remains hotly debated.
