One could say he's splitting hairs, but "Judo" Gene LeBell still maintains that his stopwatch proved that Ronda Rousey put Cat Zingano away quicker than the official records showed Saturday at UFC 184.
After the UFC 184 post-fight press conference, LeBell, a longtime judo red belt and mentor of Rousey, claimed that his stopwatch read 12.83 seconds following her win over Zingano.
"It was a little more than a second faster," LeBell said. "I was there at the start, and it was right in front of me. Willie's a great timekeeper, but he was on the other side, so it took him a second to push the button. So he said 14 (seconds), but it was 12.83 seconds."
LeBell said Rousey gave him the stopwatch he wears around his neck for all of her fights prior to the start of her illustrious pro career in 2011.
"'Rowdy' Ronda Rousey gave me this stopwatch," LeBell said. "She said, 'Uncle Gene. Every one of my fights you're going to be there with this watch,' and I was there tonight and I'll continue to be there for her."
With the win, the 28-year-old Rousey defended her UFC women's bantamweight title for the fifth straight time. Rousey has won nine of her 11 fights by armbar, eight of which came in the first round. Rousey's other two wins came via knockout and TKO. Her last three title defenses have lasted a combined 96 seconds.
Rousey set the record for the swiftest finish in a UFC title bout. She came one second shy of tying Andrei Arlovski for the fastest finish in a UFC title fight with her 16-second KO of Alexis Davis at UFC 175 in July.
LeBell pointed out that Rousey started her trend of finishing opponents quickly long before her pro MMA career spawned.
"She was working out at my school many years ago before she started (MMA), and some guy came in with a black belt, a jiu-jitsu fella, and he said, 'I want somebody to work out with,'" LeBell said. "I said, 'Hey, class is over with and everyone's gone home, except for one little girl (Rousey) on the mat. They started out standing, and pow, she armbarred him in five seconds. Then he jumps up, because it was an accident, and says, 'Let's do it again.' So Ronda armbarred him again, this time in seven seconds."
Although Rousey's movie career could keep her out of the Octagon in the coming months, she'll likely see one of two contenders, Bethe Correia or Jessica Eye, in her next attempt to defend her belt.
The sixth-ranked Eye holds a 1-1 record in the UFC with one no-contest. Eye originally defeated fifth-ranked Sarah Kaufman at UFC 166, but the win was overturned and deemed a no-contest after Eye tested positive for marijuana following a post-fight drug screen.
The seventh-ranked Correia holds a 9-0 record and wins over two of Rousey's stablemates, Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler. Correia is 3-0 in the UFC.
All quotes were obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report.
