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Is UFC champion Ronda Rousey the world's top sportswoman?

Fighting pioneer is now a film star

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 28:  Ronda Rousey celebrates her victory over Cat Zingano in their UFC women's bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 184
Image: Ronda Rousey is the face of the UFC

Ronda Rousey was born with her umbilical cord wrapped almost fatally around her throat but now has a stranglehold on female combat sports, a once untrodden path that she is at the forefront of forging.

Fighting remained the lone realm of sport where gender attitudes were stuck in bygone eras, as female athletes rued the lack of professional options for their craft, until Rousey’s emergence as the face of the UFC.

Mixed martial arts, once a sport consigned to the underground, has flourished largely thanks to the beauty and brawn of Rousey, the undefeated UFC champion whose evolution into Hollywood personality and Rolling Stone cover girl makes her one of the most recognisable combat athletes in the world.

BEIJING - AUGUST 13:  Ronda Rousey of the United States competes against Annett Boehm of Germany in their Women's 70 kg Bronze Medal Contest judo bout at t
Image: Ronda Rousey won a bronze medal in judo at the Olympics in Beijing in 2008

But trailblazing a path into the UFC for women hasn’t been a seamless process and required Rousey’s fighting spirit throughout her life - long before it was utilised inside a cage.

The first fight she won was surviving a difficult birth, although the damage resulted in a severe speech impediment during the Californian’s formative years resulting in a shyness that belies the grand stage on which she now revels.

Ronda Rousey's accomplishments

  • Youngest judo athlete, aged 17, at 2004 Olympics
  • Bronze medal winner at 2008 Olympics
  • First and only women's bantamweight champion for UFC
  • Fourth degree black belt in judo. Undefeated 12-0 MMA record

Her father took his own life when she was eight-years-old due to a critical illness developed after an accident, so Rousey immersed herself in judo – the sport in which her mother had become the first American world champion.

Her muscular arms were the source of mockery in her teenage years and, to this day, she refrains from the tradition of flexing at weigh-ins before a big fight. At 17, she was the youngest judo competitor at the 2000 Olympics before she won a bronze medal four years later in Beijing.

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Ronda Rousey v Cat Zingano
Image: Ronda Rousey submitted Cat Zingano in 14 seconds

Rousey's recent autobiography My Fight/Your Fight recounts a difficult post-Olympics period where she bemoaned the lack of professional avenues for her sport, a brutal realisation for female athletes in many fields.

Disillusionment caused Rousey, forced to work as a barmaid despite her Olympic medal waiting at home, to surrender briefly to life’s temptations until an exciting new sport grabbed her attention.

ANAHEIM, CA - FEBRUARY 23:  Ronda Rousey fights Liz Carmouche during their UFC Bantamweight Title bout at Honda Center on February 23, 2013 in Anaheim, Cal
Image: Ronda Rousey defeated Liz Carmouche with a trademark armbar in the first ever women's UFC fight

The UFC was catching fire – mixed martial arts is a one-on-one fight allowing competitors to utilise a variety of skillsets with judo being one of them. While women had been fighting at less heralded organisations, UFC president Dana White had been vocal about his lack of appetite to watch women hurting each other.

Initially for meagre income, Rousey debuted in the new sport four years ago and racked up six dominant victories and a rivalry with Miesha Tate that illustrated the theatre of combat sports so often enjoyed in male competition.

Ronda Rousey the UFC record breaker...

  • 14-second win over Cat Zingano is the fastest championship match ever
  • Seven of 12 pro wins have ended in the first round via submission by armbar
  • Has finished eight of 12 wins via armbar submission
  • Nine wins by submission (8 armbar, 1 straight armlock), three by KO
  • All three amateur wins ended in under a minute via armbar
  • Has an average of two minutes and 16 seconds per fight

Two years ago, she stepped inside the UFC’s Octagon as the first female competitor and a trademark armbar submission forced Liz Carmouche to quit and confirmed Rousey as world champion.

The Las Vegas-based UFC, 10th in Forbes’ list of valuable sports brands last year, now rates Rousey as its most popular athlete, showcasing her fights only at their most lavish events. Such is her dominance, her last three opponents lasted only 16, 14 and 34 seconds, respectively.

Ronda Rousey (left) fights Bethe Correia in their bantamweight title fight during the UFC 190
Image: Ronda Rousey (left) KO'd Bethe Correia in her last fight within 34 seconds

Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone ventured into unchartered territory to feature her on the cover, and film appearances in The Expendables and Fast & Furious plus a WWE WrestleMania appearance alongside The Rock have increased her star power beyond sports.

Yet the 28-year-old’s greatest achievement, despite her glistening gold championship belt, remains pioneering and opening doors for future female athletes to enter a sport, and subsequently build their own brand, that was never previously an option.

Ronda Rousey defends her UFC women's bantamweight title against Holly Holm at UFC 193.

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