According to a March 6 report from MMA Mania, UFC champ Ronda Rousey thinks it's just old people who oppose MMA.
"It's a lot of the younger generation that really accepts it and loves it and a lot of the more old school train of thought that is having more trouble coming to grips with it and understanding what the sport is," Rousey said. "So that's why I say it's just a matter of time before it comes around. The fanbase of MMA is very, very young and the people who oppose it are much older. Eventually, those younger people will be the ones making the decisions. It's more of a generational issue for sure."
Rousey thinks it's just a matter of time before young people move into power, which will result in the legalization of MMA in New York.
"Just the way it looks, it's very jarring and it's kind of a spectacle if you don't know what you're looking at," Rousey said. I have an Olympic background doing judo and everything. Everything I do in MMA is what I did in the Olympics. I was applauded for it and called an American hero for it then but if I put on a different outfit and do it under some brighter lights, all of a sudden "Oh my God, it's so terrible!" It really is the same thing. Everything you can do in MMA, you can do in the Olympics in just separated sports. They're just all put together.
"I think a lot of the stereotypes involving MMA that it's just for men and it's a testosterone-driven sport is eventually fading out. That's why it's so important that women do it because once it's accepted as normal for women to do, then it's gonna go more through all of society."
Rousey is optimistic that 2013 is the year MMA will become legal in New York.
"I'm always optimistic," Rousey said. "I always have really good faith in people that they'll see the value that's in the sport and I really feel like it's bound to happen. The only problem with this issue is just ignorance on what the sport really is and once people become more educated, they'll come around and make the right decision."
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