Daniel Cormier: Ronda Rousey should take a year off to improve
Light heavyweight world champion and FS1 television analyst Daniel Cormier agrees that an immediate rematch between former bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey and new title-holder Holly Holm is a terrible idea. I wrote Sunday how, among other things, Rousey will need a great deal of time spent on skill development in order to correct mistakes she's always made, but which Holm capitalized on at UFC 193 to devastating effect.
The former two-time Olympic wrestler told a similar story to Colin Cowherd on "The Herd" on Tuesday. "I actually would not fight her back, again, if I were Team Rousey," he said.
"Going forward, they're talking about an immediate rematch for Ronda Rousey. The improvements that she will need to make, will take much longer than the six-month break that she's anticipating, or whatever. She needs a year or so."
There is little doubt that an athlete of Rousey's caliber could improve, if she makes the changes she needs to and spends an adequate amount of time improving. However, learning to move one's head and get it off the center line on the feet, keeping your chin down during exchanges, and mastering the nuances of maintaining one's balance while striking are all things which take years and years to master.
Rousey is still relatively new to the world of striking and MMA, and has spent so much time hurrying from fight, to movie, to fight, that she likely hasn't been able to improve much over the past couple of years. In any case, she had no answers for Holm's striking or her takedown defense, this past weekend.
There's no shame in that, but there's also nothing wrong with taking time off to heal and improve her skills. Hopefully she takes the advice of the likes of Cormier, and comes back better than ever, ready to compete with the best once more.
