clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Fedor: I don’t like that Ronda Rousey misses a lot of punches

Russian heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko spoke about UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

Although Fedor Emelianenko may not be a fan of women's MMA, he seems to have, at the very least, seen some of Ronda Rousey's fights.

During a recent Q&A session at a youth forum in the North Caucasus, Fedor was asked to give his opinion on the UFC women's bantamweight champion.

"To date, [Rousey] stands out as number one in the world rankings," said Fedor. "But I do not like that she misses a lot of punches, which leads to painful reception. I do not advocate such tactics, especially for women."

A few months before Fedor announced his return to MMA, he provided some controversial quotes regarding his views on women's MMA. While his viewpoint is on par with those of a devout Orthodox Christian from ethnic Russia, his quotes made headlines in the MMA community, and female fighters were forced to contend with his words.

"Women shouldn't compete in UFC/MMA because this sport is for men," Emelianenko said. "There are a lot of sports where women look like women - like gymnastics, water sports, maybe some athletics. MMA is for men. It's a man's sport."

Naturally, neither of Fedor's daughters compete nor train in combat sports.

"Mary was engaged in many sports, but now leads a healthy lifestyle and engages in fitness, stretching, cycling, but study takes her a long time, so the sport is just for her health. Vasilisa is engaged in gymnastics."

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bloody Elbow Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your MMA and UFC news from Bloody Elbow