Ronda Rousey's Explanation Of Why She Didn't Touch Gloves With Holly Holm Proves The Sky Is A Different Color In Her World

Uproxx-  “It was just like a reaction,” Rousey says about her decision not to touch gloves with Holm before the fight. “I was like, ‘The last time I saw you [at the weigh-in], you were putting your fist on my chin and trying to get a cheap hit on me, then you turn around and you want to touch gloves? You have to be one way or the other. So if you want to be that way with me, that’s the way it is.'”


​Hey Ronda, we don't believe you. It was just a reaction? No. Making the conscious decision not to touch gloves with someone isn't a reaction. Automatically touching gloves, like every other fighter has done so many times before, is a reaction. You felt disrespected by Holly Holm at the weigh-in? What exactly makes Holm's decision to put her fist against your (apparently glass) jaw anymore disrespectful than your decision to go on a worldwide media tour proclaiming how badly you were going to beat her? We are talking about a weigh-in. It's meant to be a spectacle. The UFC, just like professional boxing, wants something noteworthy to happen. If they didn't they could very easily just have you to step on a scale behind closed doors, instead of in front of an auditorium full of people and and litany of news cameras. Unless one fighter legitimately swings at another, which undoubtedly did not happen here, then nothing that happens at a weigh-in should be taken seriously.

​The ring, on the other hand, is a different story. You don't have to like someone to touch gloves before a fight. You don't even have to respect someone to touch gloves before a fight. Touching gloves has very little to do with your opponent. It's simply a gesture to show how much you both respect the sport. A refusal to acknowledge said gesture shows a lack of appreciation for the sport, and in Ronda's case, it's a sport that has blessed her with a seven or eight figure bank account  That lack of appreciation was evident when Ronda Rousey was laying on her back looking like the daughter of Mr. Potato Head and a Picasso painting.  That's not to say that Rousey didn't train properly for her fight, but she was far more concerned with embarrassing Holly Holm than beating her. That was obvious just from watching her preconceived dismissal of Holm's glove tap. No one is stupid enough to think that you just did that on a whim Ronda, and no one thinks that this explanation is anymore than some retrospective, manufactured response. Next time maybe touch gloves, respect your craft, and hopefully you won't have to worry about your facial structure taking a bigger beating than your reputation.