Matchup against unbeaten Rousey gives McMann chance to prove self

Sara McMann says she didn’t care who emerged victorious in last month’s UFC women’s bantamweight title bout between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, despite knowing she would be facing the winner.

“Anytime I watch a fight in my weight class, I’m on pins and needles,” McMann said Thursday during a media tour in Las Vegas. “I was way into it, but I wasn’t rooting one way or the other.”

The same couldn’t be said of her manager, who knew a title bout against Rousey would be good for business.

“(He) was definitely pulling for Ronda because it’s way more high-profile of a fight to say two Olympians with undefeated records and all the things that go along with that. It’s just a better sell from a management standpoint,” McMann said. “But I just want the better fighter, so if it happened to be Miesha on that night, then I would have wanted to fight her.”

Rousey remained unbeaten with a third-round submission victory by armbar, the same method of victory with which she has ended every fight in her career.

That set up a title fight in the main event of UFC 170 at Mandalay Bay on Feb. 22 between two Olympic medalists. The fight also happens to take place during the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, further helping the marketing of the bout.

McMann, who won a silver medal in wrestling in 2004, said Rousey will find it difficult to take her down. Daniel Cormier, another Olympic wrestler who will also be in action at UFC 170 against Rashad Evans, agreed.

“When Ronda grabs Sara, she’s going to feel something she hasn’t felt since the Olympic Games. She’s going to feel a girl that — and no disrespect to the girls that have competed against Ronda and the other girls who are fighting — but she’s going to feel somebody that’s a lifetime athlete as she is,” Cormier said. “Ronda hit the nail on the head when she said, ‘Miesha, you wrestled in high school and I was in the Olympics.’ Nothing truer was ever said. Well, Sara did too. When she feels her, she’s going to feel something different. That’s why I’m excited about this fight.”

From the time the women’s division was created last year, there was a strong sentiment among insiders that McMann’s skill set makes her the most difficult potential challenge for Rousey.

McMann didn’t back down from those expectations.

“I think that every other girl in the division would have a very, very long and hard road to learning how to stop a high-level throw,” McMann said. “I don’t have that same problem.”

She is aware of the fact that Rousey, a 2008 bronze medalist in judo, possesses a weapon in the armbar that nobody has yet been able to defend.

“She used a lot of armbars in judo and she won an Olympic bronze medal, so it’s not something where you can say, ‘Oh, she’s just a one-trick pony,’ ” McMann said. “That’s like saying there’s a basketball player that only makes 3-pointers. Well, that scores a lot of points. So I approach it as that’s her strength. I just have to look at the athlete that she is and the ways I can exploit it.”

■ BROWN APOLOGIZES — UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown issued an apology for comments about female fighting he made on his podcast last week, saying he will be “more aware of (his) actions and words.”

Brown was stating his case as to why he’s not a big fan of the women’s division when he made a remark that the organization condemned in a statement.

“If I’m (going) to pay $60 for a pay-per-view to watch women fight, they should at least be topless,” Brown said.

McMann said she wasn’t bothered by the comments.

“I do not care if somebody wants to be a fan or not. I do not care. Don’t pay $60 then. Nobody’s taking their top off. Watch the ring girls in between rounds,” she said. “What he’s saying to me is ‘I’m not a fan of women’s fighting.’ Well, who cares? I’m not a fan of golf. I don’t go around saying, ‘These golfers better do something to entertain me. Why aren’t they streaking?’

“I don’t even know him. Why would I give a crap what he thinks about my fight? I don’t lose any sleep over it. You know what, Matt Brown, fight in a Speedo.”

■ UFC FIGHT NIGHT 35 — Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold fights Costa Philippou in the main event of UFC Fight Night 35 on Wednesday in Duluth, Ga. Rockhold is trying to rebound from a devastating loss to Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut.

Also, Las Vegan Brad Tavares fights Lorenz Larkin in another middleweight bout on the main card that airs on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329) at 4 p.m.

The preliminary card also airs live on Fox Sports 1 at 2 p.m.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.