För de som inte känner till Bjorn Rebney så är han Bellators VD, en av UFC:s största konkurrenter. Det är således en person som kritiskt ser på varje steg som UFC tar, och nu senast har han tittat närmare på Ronda Rouseys situation, och Dana Whites uttalande om att Rousey är den största stjärnan inom MMA.
”I would never want to verbalize disrespect for a fighter … but to characterize her as the biggest star in MMA is, I believe, a little disrespectful to a lot of fighters who have put in year after year after year in this game,” sa Rebney nyligen till MMAjunkie. “If Ronda fights ‘Cyborg’ and she could beat ‘Cyborg,’ I think that would be a big statement as to where she is in the game. But to characterize her as the biggest star is a bit disingenuous. I think there are a lot of huge stars in MMA.”
Samtidigt passade Rebney på att spekulera varför UFC sagt att hon är en så pass stor stjärna, och skickar samtidigt iväg en känga på UFC:s sätt att göra affärer.
”In my own personal opinion, it seems like a very forced marketing position that someone’s taking because she’s attractive and she appears on a lot of magazine covers, and I think we saw that once before at Strikeforce, and (Gina Carano) fought ‘Cyborg’ and lost handedly,” sa Rebney. “No disrespect to Brock (Lesnar), but he was forced into a situation very quickly coming off very few fights to be positioned as a world champ because he could be sold on pay-per-view. Not because he beat the best fighters in the world, but because he could be sold. I think we’re seeing the exact same thing in Ronda, and anyone who would tell you differently is not speaking the truth.”
