Ronda Rousey vs Laila Ali: Randy Couture Wants to Train Boxing Champ Against ‘Rowdy’ [Watch]
While there is no indication that Laila Ali and Ronda Rousey will eventually face each other in the future, mixed martial arts superstar Randy Couture has offered his services to the daughter of boxing great Muhammad Ali.
Couture said in an ambush interview with TMZ Sports that he is open to training Ali if the unlikely showdown eventually comes into reality in the future.
However, Couture is unsure, though, if Ali has a chance to win against Rousey, the unbeaten Ultimate Fighting Championship women's bantamweight champion. If he trains Ali, Couture said that he will force the former boxing champion to work on the art of grappling if she wants to have a chance against "Rowdy" inside the Octagon.
"Ronda Rousey is not gonna stand and box with her," Couture said. "She's gonna take her down on the ground and rip her arm off like she does everybody else's. Ali needs to learn to grapple."
Ali has retired from boxing in 2007 and is already 37 years old, while Rousey is just 28 and is coming off a sensational victory in her previous fight. Rousey kept her bantamweight title and remained undefeated after scoring a win against Cat Zingano at UFC 184 main event via submission just 14 seconds into the fight.
While he does not believe age will be factor if Ali and Rousey collide, Couture does not think that the boxing champion can catch up with the MMA skills of Rowdy, who holds a perfect 11-0 record inside the Octagon.
"For someone even as athletic as Laila it's going to be tough," Couture said. "How do you catch up with a bronze medalist in the Olympic judo in a mixed martial arts fight?"
Talks about the Rousey vs. Ali started when the former boxing world champion, who retired with a 24-0 record, said in a TMZ Sports interview that no women in the world, including Rousey, can beat her. Ali took a swipe at Rousey, saying that the UFC superstar is too small, comparing Rowdy to her 3-year-old daughter.
Responding to the statement of Ali, Rousey said in an interview with The Daily Beast that she is ready to face the Florida native and prove that the size disparity Ali was talking about will not be a factor.
"If she wants to take me up on that, I'm around," Rousey said. "She's retired and has several kids. I understand why she'd think that because she has a size advantage, but if you saw my last fight it had nothing to do with size or strength at all. That's not how I beat people."
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