Floyd Mayweather and Ronda Rousey have had their words in the past — escalating in July after she had won the ESPY for best fighter. But now the tables have turned since Rousey was knocked out by Holly Holm at UFC 193 over the weekend. Rather than criticize Rousey for employing terrible tactics during the fight, Mayweather came to her defense, telling FightHype.com: “I don’t think it’s cool how everyone is trolling her on social media. Certain things you have to learn. People will love you on Friday and then Sunday morning, it’s nothing but negative comments and people making jokes and people making fun about you, which I don’t think is cool.”
Mayweather was even gracious enough to offer to help Rousey improve her pugilistic skills, “If you need help as far as boxing, I’m here to help you. It’s all about timing and inches. Her ground game is unbelievable. She’ll be OK.” Rousey lost to Holm when she opted to try and out-strike the best striker in women’s MMA, with disastrous results. Mayweather, who retired with a 49-0 record in September, could never be accused of falling into that trap. He always fought to his own strengths and never fell into the trap of employing tactics that played right into the hands of his opponent.
The undefeated Mayweather has never gone through what Rousey is experiencing right now, but he has no doubt she can handle this adversity. “I’ve never been on the other side, so I don’t know how it feels. I’m pretty sure she’s a very, very strong person, but we still have to take into consideration that she has feelings.”
Mayweather had this advice on what Rousey should do next: “I think that she needs some time off to regroup and refocus. I think they’re rushing her. They need to build Ronda Rousey back up, her confidence back up, even though I think she’s probably still confident. Let Holly fight, defend the title a few times, and build it. That’s what I would do… slowly build it up. It’s all about timing.” As for now, it will be interesting to see Holm take the role as the new UFC bantamweight champion — seeing who’s next in line to fight her.
