What Ronda Rousey and Floyd Mayweather Jr. do in the octagon and the ring, respectively, probably seems to most outside the sport of pugilism to be pretty similar. To those who watch closely though, it's very apparent that the two combatants aren't just different in terms of gender or race demographics - their livelihoods are built on vastly different manners of fighting. Despite these inherent differences, the two haven't shied away from going at it with one another of late via an off-mat media tussle, with Rousey prodding Mayweather on his alleged domestic violence issues and Mayweather suggesting he didn't even know who she (he) was. Mayweather, appearing on Sportscenter on Thursday night to promote his next fight with Andre Berto, took the opportunity to fling another jab at Rousey, the women's MMA bantamweight champion.
"I've yet to see any MMA fighter, or other boxer, make over $300 million in 36 minutes. When she can do that, then call me," said Mayweather, via MMAFighting.com.
While what he's saying is factually correct and probably pales a bit in comparison to Rousey wondering what Mayweather thinks about being "beaten by a woman for once" after her Fight of the Year award win at the ESPYs, it's still interesting to note that these two elite fighters - Mayweather is 48-0 and Rousey is 12-0 - can't seem to stay away from one another. Rousey even admitted after the ceremony that she had waited more than year to come back at Mayweather for disrespecting her by suggesting he wasn't aware of her existence.
"I know for damn sure that he knew who I was, because he was running against me for Best Fighter that year and he has signed MMA fighters," Rousey said in July. "So his feigned ignorance was meant to be a snarky remark to me."
Of course, Rousey's comment takes issue with a certain highly questionable aspect of Mayweather's personality and life outside the ring. Mayweather just seems like he wants to stir things up and perhaps push viewing for his next and likely last fight against Berto even higher. Mayweather may not come across as the most intelligent man, but he's not dumb when it comes to self-promotion.
Still, Mayweather's comments toward Rousey on Thursday night weren't all bad.
"A while back I didn't know who Ronda Rousey was, so I'm pretty sure she got upset. I want to say congratulations to Ronda Rousey and the UFC. You guys have done a tremendous job and I've won probably six or seven ESPYS for Fighter of the Year. And I truly believe she deserves it. Congratulations to Ronda Rousey."