Ronda Rousey finds consolation in defeat from a strange source: Floyd Mayweather.
The mixed-martial artist lost via a devastating high kick by underdog Holly Holm at UFC 193 on Sunday in Australia. Despite Sports Illustrated touting her as “the world’s most dominant athlete,” Rousey appeared decidedly human against the former women’s boxing champion, who won nearly every second of the fight.
Floyd can’t empathize because he has never lost a professional fight. But can he really sympathize given all the insults thrown his way by Rousey?
“I don’t think it’s cool how everyone is trolling her on social media,” Mayweather told FightHype.com. “Certain things you have to learn. People will love you on Friday and then Sunday morning, it’s nothing but negative comments and people making jokes and people making fun about you, which I don’t think is cool. I’m pretty sure she’s a very, very strong person, but we still have to take into consideration that she has feelings. Everything happens for a reason. This was already written.”
Rousey boasted that she could beat Mayweather in a fight, suggested that he can neither read nor write, and repeatedly invoked his criminal history. After winning fighter of the year at the ESPY awards, Rousey quipped: “I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once.”
The feud stemmed from Money pleading ignorance to Rousey’s identity when asked about a potential matchup with the UFC’s queen bee. A seemingly confused Mayweather earnestly informed, “I don’t know who he is,” before a female voice alerted him to Rousey’s membership in the gentler sex.
The spat appeared to escalate this weekend. Rapper 50 Cent ridiculed Rousey on Instagram and claimed, perhaps tounge-in-cheek, that Mayweather put him up to it.
LMAO FLOYD TOLD ME TO POST THIS , he want me to do the dirty work. #EFFENVODKA #FRIGO #SMSAUDIO
A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Nov 15, 2015 at 3:02pm PST
But Floyd denies that he instructed 50 Cent to post the altered images or even that he discussed the fight with anyone.
“That’s not true at all,” Money told FightHype.com. “I haven’t really spoke to anyone about the Ronda Rousey situation, just to set the record straight. I don’t have anything against MMA fighters. It’s just like boxing; you win some, you lose some. A true champion can take a loss and bounce back.”