Ronda Rousey takes swipe at Mayweather at ESPYs

MANILA, Philippines – UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey added another accolade to her résumé as she was named as Fighter of the Year and Best Female Athlete in the 2015 Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards.

The 28-year-old Rousey, who was up against the likes of fellow UFC competitor Donald Cerrone and world-class boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr., Terence Crawford and Gennady Golovkin in the Fighter of the Year category, became the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to win the aforementioned ESPY citation that was bestowed upon her during the annual awarding ceremony at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, July 16 (PH Time).

Rousey has been involved in a verbal war of words through the media with Mayweather, and she had some jabs of her own to take at the unbeaten American pugilist.

“I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once,” she said, alluding to his convictions for domestic violence. “I’d like to see you pretend to not know who I am now.”

(READ: Why you should care about Mayweather’s domestic violence history)

Aside from the “Fighter of the Year” award, she also won her second-straight ESPY “Best Female Athlete” trophy, topping all-time great tennis superstar Serena Williams, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn and UCONN basketball player Breanna Stewart

At the age of 17, Rousey emerged as one of the top female Judokas in the world, giving her the opportunity to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Four years later, she captured the bronze medal at the Beijing Games, becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in women’s judo bracket since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992.

Rousey turned her attention to prizefighting in March 2011 and spearheaded her MMA career with eight-straight triumphs by armbar submission.

After moving up in the ranks to win the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship, she was hailed as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural female champion in November 2012 when the organization was purchased by the world’s premier MMA promotion.

“Rowdy” is coming off a 14-second submission of Cat Zingano at UFC 184 this past February, notching her ninth win by armbar and tenth first-round finish.

Rousey is set to defend her UFC crown for the sixth time versus Bethe Correia on August 2 (August 1) at UFC 190, which takes place at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Other individual honors were given to Peyton Manning, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Leo Messi. 

Manning was awarded Best Record-Breaking Performance after eclipsing Brett Favre’s all-time touchdown passing record, while Messi earned the nod for Best International Athlete.

Golden State’s Curry took home the coveted award for Best Male Athlete, while James bagged the Best Championship Performance for almost single-handedly bringing the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA title in this year’s finals.

– Rappler.com