Few can dispute the notion that Ronda Rousey represents one of the fiercest and most intimidating competitors in the realm of MMA, particularly once the Octagon door swings open.
And although the UFC women's bantamweight champ seemingly carries a similarly menacing aura during her pre-fight routines, Rousey claims one opponent got under her skin prior to one of her 10 career pro fights.
Rousey sounded off on how she got distracted by Liz Carmouche during their staredown prior to her first scrap in the promotion at UFC 157 in February 2013.
"You know who was the smartest ever, to really f--k with me in the staredown? Liz Carmouche," Rousey told reporters at UFC's "The Time is Now" news conference on Nov. 17, according to Dave Doyle of MMAFighting.com. "I've had girls try to get in my face, I've had girls try to smirk with me, stuff like that. Liz Carmouche just started spitting game right then. I was totally distracted."
Rowdy didn't divulge the exact details regarding what Carmouche said but offered the following: "Well, I don't want her girlfriend to get mad at me or anything. Let's just say it was the most thrown off I've ever been."
Rousey also claimed that, unlike another previous foe, Miesha Tate, she doesn't try to play psychological games prior to her fights, though she does have a distinct understanding of the promotional value of a memorable staredown.
I don't try to psychologically break the other person down. I remember Miesha (Tate) was like ‘Ronda's shaking and she blinks too much and she's scared of me.' I'm like, ‘Yeah, go back to Psych 101, b---h.' So no, I don't really go try to break the other person down. It's mostly there for promotional value, especially for a press conference that is so far out before the fight.
Evidently, Carmouche's pre-fight strategies did enough to fluster Rousey in the opening minutes of the first women's bout in UFC history.
Carmouche used a slick maneuver to take Rowdy's back just 45 seconds into the bout. Carmouche then threatened to submit the unbeaten Olympic judoka with a vicious standing neck crank.
Rousey defended the neck crank before slapping on her seventh straight fight-ending armbar with 11 seconds left in the opening round.
Nearly two years removed from the greatest challenge during her title reign, Rousey essentially said Carmouche's pre-fight tactics taught her a valuable lesson.
"Liz, I think she started singing her own walkout song and she started to dance and everything and I was like I can't, I have no previous information on the subject, no knowledge of how to react to this," Rousey said. "So no, that was the most effective staredown ever."
Rousey's latest staredown came at the "Time is Now" event with her next opponent, top-ranked bantamweight Cat Zingano, whom she'll face in the co-main event of UFC 184 in February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The 32-year-old Zingano, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, sports a 9-0 record, with her last two victories coming in the UFC via TKO.
The UFC planned to have Zingano coach opposite Rousey for season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. However, Zingano suffered a knee injury in May 2013 that prevented her from participating in the endeavor.
The 27-year-old Rousey, a longtime black belt in judo, improved to 4-0 in the UFC and 8-0 under the Zuffa banner when she KO'd the now-fourth-ranked Alexis Davis in just 16 seconds at UFC 175 in July.
