Ronda Rousey is one of those athletes who has made a huge impact on mixed martial arts. In 2012, due to her dominance and popularity in the sport, she became the first woman to sign with the UFC. Before Rousey, the top female fighters around the world rarely had a chance to shine on major stages. Despite only competing for less than six years, “Rowdy” had one of the most celebrated MMA careers in the history of the sport. She revolutionized the sport and paved the way for women to compete in the UFC.
10) Didn’t spend much time in the cage
Rousey didn’t spend much time fighting inside the cage. In total, she fought 14 professional MMA bouts lasting less than 33 minutes. Rousey fought for less than eight minutes before being signed to the UFC. She got six wins in less than eight minutes. A few of these wins came against some of the best female MMA fighters around the globe, including Miesha Tate, Julia Budd and Sarah Kaufmann. Rousey took less than seven minutes to defend her title five times. These victories included a 14-second armbar victory against Cat Zingano and a 16-second knockout victory against Alexis Davis.
9) The Armbar specialist
Ronda won her first eight professional bouts via armbar submission. In her first four bouts, she defeated all her opponents in less than a minute. This winning streak led her to getting the first title shot. In 2012, “The Arm Collector” submitted Miesha Tate to win the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Her next three title defenses also ended with her patented armbar.
8) Always a quick finisher
Rousey apparently did not receive hourly pay during her MMA career, as out of 14 of her professional bouts, only two advanced to the second round. In her first seven bouts, Rousey took less than a round to defeat her opponents. While defending her UFC title against Miesha Tate in a rematch of their Strikeforce bout, Rousey was pushed to the third round but still won by armbar submission. After that bout, Rousey defended her UFC title four times and each fight ended in less than five minutes.
7) Quick turnarounds
The time taken to defeat her opponents was not Rousey’s only quick accomplishment. In 2012, Rousey was signed by the UFC, and it was announced that she would be promoted from Strikeforce Champion to the inaugural holder of the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Her first five professional bouts took place in less than a year. At one point in her UFC career, she defended her title twice in less than two months. However, her quick turnarounds may have caused harm. In 2015, she fought three times and was successful in her first two bouts, but lost the title at the end of the year.
6) Knockout specialist
Rousey won most of her fights via armbar, as mentioned above, but eventually things changed. During her 12-fight win streak, Rousey knocked out three of her opponents. She defeated Olympic silver medalist Sarah McMann by technical knockout at UFC 170 in 2014. It took just over a minute for Rousey to score her first non-submission victory. In her next fight, Rousey took only 16 seconds to knock out Alexis Davis. In the final win of her MMA career, “Rowdy” scored a knockout victory against Bethe Correia.
5) Defended her stable
Rousey is known for being loyal to people she cares about. This includes her horsewomen stablemates. Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke are her MMA teammates who have also wrestled for WWE. Before joining the WWE, all four women competed in MMA. Two of these, Baszler and Duke, shared a cage with Beth Correia. Early in her MMA career, Correia was an exciting prospect who won her first nine fights. In 2014, Correira won consecutive UFC fights against Duke and Baszler. Her fight with Baszler ended with a technical knockout and Correia then challenged Rousey. She defended her stable by defeating Correia in just 34 seconds in the main event of UFC 190 in 2015.
4) Winning Streak
Rousey’s 12-fight winning streak was exceptional and those were the first 12 fights of her career. The amazing thing is that these fights were against some of the best female fighters in the world and eight of them were for world titles. While many fighters may have had bigger win streaks or more title defenses, these streaks either came against lesser competition or came after years of training and competing in the sport. With Rousey, she spent as little time as possible becoming the best in her weight class and establishing herself as a legend in the sport.
3) Struggled with loss
On November 15, 2015, Rousey suffered her first loss and was never the same. At UFC 193, Rousey was knocked out by Holly Holm. In the first minute of the second round, Holm delivered a head kick that knocked Ronda unconscious. As a result, she lost the UFC Women’s Bantamweight title. Given her popularity and past dominance, it was no surprise that Rousey was given an automatic rematch. However, it took over a year for her to return to the Octagon. During that year, Rousey did not speak to the media or appear on camera.
2) Lost the last two fights of her career
Following her defeat to Holly Holm, Rousey returned to the UFC octagon after 13 months. On December 30, 2016, she faced Amanda Nunes, who was the Bantamweight champion at the time. Less than a minute later, the fight referee stepped in to prevent Rousey from taking any more damage from Nunes. After suffering two consecutive losses, Rousey never returned to the UFC octagon.
1) Hall of Famer
Just like Rousey was the first female to sign with the UFC, in 2018, she became the first woman to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Before entering the wrestling industry and starring in movies and TV shows, she was truly one of the most dangerous women in the world. Inside the octagon, she was an incredible talent who has left a great mark in the sport.
Also Read: List of UFC Fighters who stepped in on short notice and won
