MMA News: UFC President Dana White Upset on Rhonda Rousey Next Fight Controversy
Just 16 seconds after completely annihilating Alexis Davis at UFC 175, the defending bantamweight champion was put in an uncomfortable spot.
In the post-fight interview, Rhonda Rousey was asked by commentator Joe Rogen if she is amenable to stepping into the Octagon in a span of three weeks at UFC 176 to fill in for the cancelled Jose Aldo and Chad Medes featherweight title rematch. After tallying the second fastest time in UFC history to win via knockout, Rousey was clearly surprised by the query of her readiness to go again. However, she explained that she would do it if UFC asked her to but would rather rest and go through a planned knee surgery.
The surprising and mistimed question caught the ire of UFC President Dana White who was furious over the inappropriate query. He blamed the production team that fed the question to the commentator, stressing on the inappropriateness and untimeliness of the query.
"I was upset with the truck telling [Rogan] to tell Ronda that she's going to fight again. That wasn't true. That was some [expletive] that somebody made up back there. It was the biggest idiotic move in the history of our production team," White said as reported by Yahoo! Sports.
Rousey, who has fought three times in just a period of six months, is the subject of speculation as the stand-in fighter for the cancelled UFC 176 bout on August 6 pitting Aldo and Medes. The same rumours had some precedent as Rousey as she agreed to a title defense against Sara McMann even before she had fought Miesha Tate in the December 28 rematch.
This time around successive quick fights might be in jeopardy as Rousey suffered a cut on he right knuckle during the 16 second barrage on Davis. She will have to be medically cleared before she can step in the Octagon again, this time as soon as August 2nd which is just improbable.
Rousey is reported to begging for some time off due to her deluge of schedule shuffling training, fighting, television appearances, and even film work as she is scheduled to appear in the third installment the star-studded Expendables 3. With her proclamation that she will need surgery on her knee, all is in place for her to take some time off the Octagon.
In the meantime, the UFC will have to look for alternatives other than the sure draw of Rousey to rope in the fans for UFC 176.