UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has a large supporting cast around her. From her coaches to her training partners to her family, there are few unfamiliar faces in promotional materials or on her walk to the cage.
One of the most interesting members of Rousey's entourage is "Judo" Gene LeBell.
The former pro wrestler and martial arts legend has been a longtime confidant for Rousey, and one of her biggest supporters. He called in to Tuesday's edition of the The MMA Hour (NSFW) to speak with Ariel Helwani and discuss Rousey's thoughts before, and after, her 34-second win over Bethe Correia at UFC 190.
"Anything she wants, Ronda does," said LeBell. "The only thing is, I think she was a little disappointed because she wanted to beat this gal up, and she knocked her out. And she says, 'Well, I wasn't through! I wanted to break something like an arm or a leg or a neck, and John McCarthy just broke it up because she was unconscious.' And she says, 'But, well, it proved a point.'"
Rousey admitted to having a sadistic streak throughout the buildup to her fight with Correia and admitted to some subtle taunting immediately after. The animosity stemmed from the Brazilian's path to the title shot, which involved defeating two of Rousey's friends and training partners (Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler) and leveling non-stop verbal attacks at Rousey. The verbal jabs lasted all the way up to their staredown at the event's weigh-ins.
LeBell has been a fixture of Rousey's career in combat sports dating back back to her youth and has been in Rousey's corner for most of her MMA fights.
He also has an interesting place in MMA history himself, facing off with boxer Milo Savage in what many consider the first sanctioned mixed martial arts match. He even refereed the 1976 boxing-versus-wrestling match between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki in Tokyo.
While he wasn't in Rousey's corner on Saturday due to travel concerns, he is hoping Rousey gets attached to the rumored Cowboys Stadium card in December. "Well, if you fight December 5 in Dallas or wherever, I'll be in your corner," he told her. "She's family, you know? I've always been Uncle Gene."
Make sure to check out the full interview, where he discusses his thoughts on Cris "Cyborg" Justino and the death of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
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