At the ESPYs in July, Ronda Rousey won Fighter of the Year even though last year's winner Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquaio in the biggest boxing match of the past decade in May.
"I wonder how Floyd feels being beaten by a woman for once," Rousey said.
In a reddit AMA Monday, a user known as Knuckledork asked Rousey how she would fare against Mayweather in a "ruleless fight."
"Floyd is one of the best boxers of all time," Rousey answered. "He would definitely beat me in a boxing match. I unfortunately don't get into "matches". I fight> for a living. In a no rules fight, I believe I can beat anyone on this planet. Boxing is a sweet science with strict rules that I respect very much and aspire every day to improve at. But you said ruleless fight, and that's my honest answer."
Rousey reminds everyone MMA and boxing are two different sports. The object of boxing is to earn points on punches landed, not necessarily to knock the opponent out. Mayweather, as many novice fans learned in May, is a tactical, patient boxer.
A ruleless street fight is much closer to Mixed Martial Arts. MMA incorporates kicks, grappling and a lack of padded gloves. Take away the cage and some safety rules and MMA is a ruleless fight. With her knowledge of the sport and her judo background, Rousey is confident she could pound Mayweather. That is, when rules are thrown out the window, she thinks she can defend herself against anybody in the world.
In the Q&A, Rousey was also happy to answer a series of questions relating to personal challenges that served as barriers to her success.
Im live on reddit!Ask me anything: https://t.co/1j5EOxkgg7
Thanks everyone for getting behind http://t.co/YCZuFVhRD7 pic.twitter.com/f2Bk0Qh1xP
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) August 10, 2015
Rousey received this question from reddit user "saraeveg," a speech therapist. Rousey was born with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Her parents moved from Riverside, Calif., to Jamestown N.D., when Rousey was 3 to work with speech therapists at Minot State University.
Here was saraeveg's question:
"Hi Ronda! I recently discovered that you had Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) growing up. I'm a new speech therapist and a huge fan. Do you feel as though overcoming CAS helped you become the tenacious fighter we know you are today? Is there any message you'd like to send to kids out there struggling with speech? I'd also love to know what you liked/didn't about speech therapy, and what you wished your speech therapist said or did for you. Thanks so much!"
And here is Rousey's response:
"I love my speech therapist – I thought she was super cool and I didn't even know I was in speech therapy. I'd like to tell any kid struggling with speech that anything can be overcome with hard work regardless of how insurmountable the odds seem. Shout out to all speech therapists. You're all awesome. And the best thing about my recovery was that I was never allowed to feel inferior."
Later, Rousey was questioned about her eating disorder, which she revealed in her 2015 book, My Fight/Your Fight.
Below is the question from user "runstacey."
"I'm incredibly inspired by your eating disorder recovery through UFC. When I was struggling with anorexia, I felt so weak and powerless, and feel so strong after recovery. How does it feel to conquer something so daunting? I feel like it makes you invincible!"
And Rousey's response:
"Thanks for the kind words. It feels very liberating to free of the guilt that used to come with every meal. And I feel like I have so much extra space in my brain now that I'm not constantly thinking about the next meal and trying to eat as much as possible every day while still losing weight. I feel amazing. I (think) I look amazing. And I just ate some bomb-ass french toast this morning. I'm so happy to hear about all the progress you've made on yourself and best of luck for the future."
Here are some more notes on Rousey from the AMA:
-- Her favorite movie is Leon The Professional.
-- Her favorite Mortal Kombat character is Princess Katana.
-- If she could fight any historical figure, she would fight Buffalo Bill.
-- Her favorite "cheat meal" is "buffalo wings naked with chunky blue cheese and extra hot sauce on the side."
-- Her thoughts on a potential Cris "Cyborg" Justino matchup: "She's just waiting to be offered enough money to get her ass kicked."
-- When asked about her favorite Game of Thrones character, Rousey said: "I always get super stoked when I see it's a Daenarys (the ANTI D.N.B.) chapter, and would get really bummed when I saw it was a Catlyn chapter. But for some reason my heart is always Team Stark."
Rousey is more than a week removed from her 34-second KO of Bethe Correja. After hanging around Brazil for a few days after the annihilation, Rousey has been making her rounds home in the U.S.