The war of words continues between retired heavyweight boxer Laila Ali and current UFC Bantamweight Champ Ronda Rousey. Earlier this week, Ali entertained a hypothetical matchup with Rousey by saying she could beat any woman and that Rousey was too small. We now have Ronda’s response via the Daily Beast:
“If she wants to take me up on that, I’m around,” Rousey says of Ali. “She’s retired and has several kids. I understand why she’d think that because she has a size advantage, but if you saw my last fight it had nothing to do with size or strength at all. That’s not how I beat people. So you can’t count having a size and strength advantage as having a real advantage against me.”
We better get back to Ali and ask her what she thinks about what Ronda thinks about what Ali thinks!
Rinse and repeat until Ali comes out of retirement and starts following Dana White around Vegas demanding a fight. Hey, it worked for James Toney. I’m sure the end result would be about the same, too.
Both women have the advantage of parental units that paved the way for their success. Laila’s father, Muhammad Ali, needs no introduction. Ronda’s mother is less known, but sounds just as intense, if not more so. From the same Daily Beast article:
Rousey’s mother, Ann-Maria “Animal” Burns, was a 6th Degree BlackBelt judoka who became the first American to win the World Judo Championships when she took home the gold in 1984. She also taught her daughter that infamous armbar — a submission technique Ann-Maria mastered after blowing both her knees out at 17. According to Rousey, her mother’s coach was dating her best friend, and every time she would stay over at their place, the coach would wake her mom up by throwing the friend on top of her and yelling, “DO AN ARMBAR NOW!” She’d have to armbar her right away. “Animal” continued the ritual with Rousey, jumping on top of her every morning and forcing her into armbars. “My mom was no soccer mom. I’m laid-back and chill compared to her,” says Rousey.
Ronda’s mother even has her own blog where she dispenses aggressive and intimidating motivational advice. If you want to experience some of the same magical parenting that forged Ronda into a world champion, check that out.