Conor McGregor says Ronda Rousey 'created the women's game' in UFC

UFC Interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor has become one of the company’s biggest draws after shattering pay-per-view records at UFC 189 earlier this month. “The Notorious” could arguably be the face of UFC’s new era, but the Irishman has not set aside women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, claiming the female champ as the one who created the “women’s game” in field of mixed martial arts.

In an interview with SI, McGregor described Rousey as a “special” individual with all the achievements she had in her MMA career. The 27-year-old McGregor also complimented Rousey’s physique, saying the ESPY’s Best Fighter awardee has the “solidest” back muscles he ever felt in his life.

“Ronda is certainly an absolute animal, and she is a special individual,” McGregor said. “Without her, all these women still would be going without food at night.”

Despite being labelled as an Irish bad boy in the world of UFC, McGregor admitted he would not want to face Rousey in the Octagon for a match. The Irish fighter is convinced the undefeated Rousey would easily throw him on his head, saying he would not welcome the idea of engaging a clinch fight with the Olympic medalist.

However, McGregor still likes his chances if ever he and Rousey meets in a match, saying he has his own ways to win a possible fight with the 28-year-old American fighter. The Irish champ added that he holds every record in the men’s division of UFC after his victory against Chad Mendes. “Mystic Mac” is set for a unification bout against UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, but the date of the much-anticipated fight is still indefinite, with the Brazilian fighter recovering from a rib injury.

Meanwhile, Rousey will defend her title against Bethe Correia on August 1 at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro. According to Daily Mail, Rousey specifically requested UFC to stage the fight at HSBC Arena because the place brings good memories for the undefeated champ. Rousey is about to write her own Rocky story after admitting she would beat Correia in the Brazilian fighter’s own country.

“It got very personal between me and this girl like Rocky and Apollo and Ivan Drago, so I'm going to beat her in her own country,” Rousey said.

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