Rousey demands silence
With all the talk about Ronda Rousey’s apparent lack of striking capabilities following her 48-second loss to women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes last month, it seems logical to ask one of her sparring partners: Did Rousey really have trouble grasping the basic concepts of boxing?
Or was her poor showing at UFC 207 just a really ill-timed fluke?
It appears fight fans might never know the opinion of those closest to the star while she trained because at least one of them is legally obliged to keep quiet.
‘‘I can’t really talk about how sparring went or what we did,’’ fellow UFC bantamweight Raquel Pennington told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in an interview published on Friday. ‘‘Ronda asked me to sign a nondisclosure agreement, so I did.’’
Pennington went on to add the work they did together was ‘‘solid,’’ before ending her thoughts with, ‘‘I can’t say too much more than that.’’
Okamoto did squeeze a bit more out of Pennington in other parts of the Q&A. For instance, Pennington, who just had surgery to repair a torn biceps, admitted to being injured during her sparring sessions with the 29-year-old.
Pennington, who beat Miesha Tate by unanimous decision at UFC 205 in November, said she began having shoulder issues even before that fight but that she ‘‘felt it a lot after the fight’’.
‘‘I rested it a couple weeks and then went out to train with Ronda. After putting in the work with Ronda, I knew I couldn’t take it anymore.’’
One might infer that if Pennington wasn’t 100 percent, she might not have been the best choice of sparring partner for Rousey, who’s never been a striking specialist.
According to Rousey’s camp, however, she had three others to spar with, including MMA fighters Kaitlin Young (7-9) and Alfred Khashakyan (8-3), and Olympic boxer Mikaela Mayer, who posted a photo with Rousey to Instagram after a sparring session in October.
Mayer, who has not mentioned having to sign a nondisclosure agreement, wrote an essay to ESPNW this week regaling her experience sparring with Rousey.
Avoiding details, Mayer said she joined Rousey’s camp for a ‘‘couple of weeks’’ and saw Rousey working ‘‘extremely hard in the gym.’’
‘‘She is aggressive and strong and made me utilize all my tools,’’ Mayer added. ‘‘She was in amazing shape and you could tell she was hungry, focused and ready to get her belt back.’’
Rousey, who is serving a 45-day medical suspension after the TKO loss to Nunes on December 30, hasn’t indicated her career plans going forward.
A day after the fight said ‘‘some time to reflect and think about the future.’’
‘‘Returning to not just fighting but winning, was my entire focus this past year,’’ Rousey said. ‘‘However, sometimes it doesn’t work how you planned.’’