MMA lightweight champion, Strikeforce bantamweight champion and UFC4 winner with Olympic and World judo titles. In addition, she became the first woman to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. All of these titles and accomplishments belong to one person: judoka Ronda Rousey. Throughout her professional career, she encountered numerous difficult tests, changes and lessons. Not everyone was ready to assist her in her athletic career. She had to fight for each victory. But she never lost sight of what was most important: her faith in herself, her aspirations and her determination to be the best. You may also read about the life of boxer Oscar De La Hoya. Find out more at i-los-angeles.
Biography
Ronda was born on February 1, 1987, in Santa Monica, California. Ronda’s father died early, and her mother was an athlete. In 1984, she became the first American to win the World Judo Championship. As a result, the mother encouraged her daughter to pursue a career in sports from an early age. During giving birth to Ronda, her mother had difficulties. The umbilical cord wrapped around the girl’s neck and nearly strangled her. As a result, Rousey remained mostly silent throughout her childhood. Although, despite the consequences of a difficult birth, Rousey demonstrated great swimming skills as a child. Her father supported her in this. However, he suffered a spinal injury while sledding that could eventually result in complete paralysis. Not wanting to become a burden to his family, the man committed suicide. After that, she abandoned swimming, as it brought back memories of her father. When she was a child, Ronda had complexes associated with her appearance. Her peers teased her because of her body type. The girl did not find herself beautiful. On the other hand, years of training have paid off. At the age of 17, Rousey passed the qualifying stages for the 2004 Olympics. She was then the youngest judoka to compete. In the same year, she won the title in the World Judo Juniors Championships in Budapest.
At the age of 20, Rousey advanced to the weight category of up to 70 kilos. At this weight, she became one of the top three strongest women in the world. She earned a silver medal in the World Judo Championships in Rio de Janeiro. In the final, she was defeated by French judoka Gévrise Émane. In the same year, she also won gold at the Pan American Games. In August 2008, Rousey competed in the Beijing Olympics. She earned a bronze medal. Then, Ronda became the first woman in the United States to win an Olympic medal in judo.
Ronda also dabbled in movies. She made cameo appearances in the films “The Expendables 3,” “Furious 7,” and “Mile 22.” As a result of her accomplishments over the years, she has grown in confidence. She stopped being embarrassed about her body or appearance and became proud of her achievements.
In 2024, she published an autobiographical book titled “My Fight / Your Fight”. In it, the athlete described her WWE career and criticized the company’s sexist attitude toward women. Following a great UFC career, Rousey struggled to adjust to the world of professional wrestling. In addition, no one attempted to help her in this process. Therefore, despite her previous accomplishments, she had to start over for the first year.
UFC career
The athlete’s performances at Strikeforce prompted the creation of the UFC’s women’s division. Using her unique techniques, she defeated Liz Carmouche, Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano, knocked out Alexis Davis and Bethe Correia and defeated Sarah McMann via TKO. In November 2015, she competed against Holly Holm but lost at the start of the second round. A year later, she faced off against Amanda Nunes for the belt again. Then she lost in 48 seconds. After two defeats, Rousey left mixed martial arts to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
Career path in MMA
After numerous competitions, the girl considered where to go next and what to do. During her break from sports, she lived in California and worked as a bartender. However, her friends assisted her in launching a mixed martial arts career. Then she immediately started to succeed. A fight that ended with her victory lasted an average of 30 seconds.
In August 2010, Ronda won her first amateur MMA fight. Then Rousey fought three fights and won them all. The first professional fight lasted 23 seconds. During this brief moment, Ronda used her unique technique to catch her opponent. Ronda’s signature move is the elbow lever, which she learned from her mother’s athletic upbringing. She had experienced it on herself since she was a child. Every morning, the mother awoke her daughter with this martial technique, which she practiced with caution. Thus, this technique helped her win the majority of her fights. Almost always during the first round.
The only opponent who has withstood more than one round against Rousey was Miesha Tate. Even before their first fight, the girls had been speaking harshly about each other in interviews for several months. In 2012, the opponents endured an exhausting first round, after which Tate was captured and lost the title to Rousey. However, the confrontation between the women did not end there. In 2013, Tate’s attitude toward Rousey softened. They fought two rounds. Tate evaded Rousey’s armbar several times, but by the end of the first minute of the third round, Ronda had taken hold of her again and refused to let go. Rousey won the majority of her fights thanks to the judo techniques she learned. This is greatly credited to Armenian specialists Gokor Chivichyan and Edmond Tarverdyan.
In the 2014-2015 season, she won the Best Fighter ESPY Award and the Best Female Fighter Award at the Fighters Only World MMA Awards. Throughout her UFC career, she was mostly known by the nickname Rowdy. That is what WWE legend Roddy Piper called her. At the same time, Ronda, along with Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, called themselves “The Four Horsewomen”. She is the first and reigning champion of the UFC, the most prestigious series in mixed martial arts, as well as the Strikeforce bantamweight champion. Ronda is thought to have pioneered the use of trash talk in women’s MMA. This is the name of the style of aggressive statements directed at the opponent. The purpose of these is to humiliate and provoke the opponent. At the end of 2019, the American announced her retirement from sports. She became the first woman to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Career in wrestling
Rousey’s whole life has been connected with sports, so leaving was difficult. The woman decided to try her hand at wrestling. In 2019, she signed a contract and made her debut. In the first year, she did not lose a single match, and her fan base only grew. Thus, she was able to retain the RAW Women’s title for 231 consecutive days. In 2019, Ronda retired from wrestling, but only shortly. In 2022, she returned to compete in the Women’s Battle Royal, which Charlotte Flair won. Later, there were more exciting fights. In 2023, it was revealed that Rousey had retired from wrestling.
Net worth and personal life
As of 2022, Ronda Rousey had a net worth of 13 million dollars, making her one of the world’s richest MMA fighters.
Ronda is married to Travis Browne, a former UFC fighter. The couple became engaged in 2017 and welcomed a daughter, Liko’ula Pā’ūomahinakaipiha Browne. After finishing her sports career, Ronda focused on her family. The couple owns a farm and takes care of the animals. They aim for environmental friendliness. As a result, they rely only on solar panels to generate electricity and grow their own vegetables and fruits.