R. Rousey (photo) has no regrets about denying M. Tate a handshake. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
Time has not changed the opinion of Ronda Rousey. After the heat of the fight, just over two weeks after UFC 168, the women's bantamweight champion still believes she made the right decision by not shaking hands. Miesha Tate after the fight, even in the face of her rival's insistence on offering her a hand. For Ronda, Tate's act was motivated, solely and exclusively, by the fact that they were both in public, with their actions filmed and broadcast around the world.
“I really think that if she and I fought alone in her gym and if there was no one watching, she wouldn't have offered her hand to me. Her actions were completely influenced by her being observed. My actions were all independent of being observed,” said Rousey, during a meeting with the press to promote UFC 170, in an excerpt reproduced by the “MMA Fighting” website.
Known for her spontaneity, the muse also stated that the act was not thought out in advance. “It's not a moment to be forged and it was the right thing to do because I didn't even think about it. It was immediate. It was simply like this: ‘no’. Maybe if I had given myself time to think about it, I would have changed my mind, but then it would have been the wrong decision, because it would have meant that my first impulse, I mean, I had it for a reason. I stood my ground in a very difficult situation where I would be extremely criticized for taking it,” she concluded.
On December 28th, in Las Vegas (USA), Ronda Rousey defended her Ultimate women's bantamweight belt for the second time by beating her great rival Miesha Tate. Soon after, president Dana White announced that Ronda will once again put her title on the line on February 22, against Sara McMann, in the main fight of UFC 170.
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