Sara McMann Wants Rematch with Ronda Rousey, Says She Can 'Dethrone' the Champ

Champions get challenged. That's the way it goes. Is it possible, though, that maybe Sara McMann's challenge carries a little more steam than that of the average fighter?

Ronda Rousey took care of McMann once before, knocking her out in 66 seconds back at UFC 170 in Feb. 2014. But it's a testament to Rousey's greatness, and McMann's pedigree as a world-class wrestler, that a call-out from McMann this week actually makes some sense.

McMann, who faces Amanda Nunes Saturday at UFC Fight Night 73, recently spoke with Damon Martin of Fox Sports about a potential rematch:

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Even to this day, people keep coming up to me and they're like, 'That fight was stopped too soon.' I'm just sitting and eating lunch and people are like, 'You should be in there; you're the one that's going to beat Ronda.' I was like, 'I think so, too.' ... Considering the fact that it was stopped after a minute and six seconds, that didn't show the fighter that I am.

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In fairness, discussion of Rousey's potential equal is, at the moment, entirely academic, at least this side of Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino. But McMann (8-2) has as interesting a case as any.

The Maryland native took home a women's freestyle wrestling silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Famously, Rousey (12-0) grabbed a bronze for judo in the 2008 summer games in Beijing.

That does not mean they are the same as MMA fighters. What it does mean is that McMann may have the physical strength and ground knowledge to last with Rousey in the event that the fight hits the mat.

Even if that is the case, however, McMann would appear to be at a large disadvantage in the striking phase. Though she is not an elite boxer by any stretch, Rousey's hands have certainly improved over the past couple of years, as evidenced by her 34-second knockout of Bethe Correia at UFC 190, a bout that did not include a single takedown.

As the record shows, Rousey also demonstrated her striking prowess against McMann when she buried a knee into McMann's midsection to secure the first knockout of her professional MMA career.

Martin's interview did not delve into that question.

In any event, McMann projected serious confidence during the interview. 

"I think I'm the one that's going to dethrone her," McMann told Martin.