A brief look at Ronda Rousey's influence
Ronda Rousey is widely known as one of, if not the most dangerous females on the planet in the octagon, as she continues to dominate in the bantamweight division of UFC.
Rousey has found herself compared to one of the greatest fighters in history in legendary Mike Tyson recently.
And the comparisons continue to flood in, UFC’s Dana White said:
"She is—without a doubt—that female version of him, that's exactly what she reminds me of.”
Her rise to the top of her game from Judo Olympian to MMA mega star has only spanned over a few years, and she is quite possibly the biggest UFC star already. Love her or hate her, she has the talent to match her bold persona, and the UFC can’t get enough of the combined marketing potential. Has she become their greatest asset? Probably!
Rousey’s fame has rocketed recently, and for the betting lovers amongst us finally odds are appearing on betting websites for the female fights of the UFC. When a sport appears on betting platforms then you it has become mainstream. Sites like Bookies.com offer up-to-date news and tips on betting odds on UFC events, so you can be sure that if any news about Rousey or her opponents becomes available, they will report it.
Many would love a flutter, and we really hope that betting sites start to include more female fights, including Muay Thai and Boxing. Rousey has set the ball rolling so fingers crossed we’ll get this wish!
She made her mixed martial arts debut back in 2010 when she was still deemed as an amateur. She defeated Hayden Munoz in that debut via armbar. The fight lasted just 23 seconds.
In Las Vegas on November 18th, 2011 – Rousey faced Julia Budd at Strikeforce challengers 20. The fight would last a mere 36 seconds, as Rousey dislocated Budd’s arm causing a submission.
On conclusion of the fight with Budd, Rousey announced she was to drop to 135 pounds so she could challenge Miesha Tate – who at that time was the women’s bantamweight champion. The pair developed a heated rivalry in the time before the fight, which added to the anticipation and excitement. On March 3rd 2012, Rousey challenged Tate for her title and the fight was expected to be closer than it actually was, as Rousey dislocated her opponents’ elbow early on in the fight causing yet another submission – and she became the bantamweight champion.
A lot of ground has been covered so far in Rousey’s career and she’s generated much interest in her persona outside of competing; model, movie star, pundit etc. Even the WWE is utilizing Rousey’s fame, good on her! At Wrestlemania 31 earlier on this year, Rousey was sat on the front row as she watched an argument unfold between the Rock and the Authority (Stephanie McMahon and Triple H).
McMahon taunted the Rock, telling him ‘he’d never hit a woman’ – and she was right, he wouldn’t – but Rousey might.
The Rock invited Rousey to join him on stage, and she told the crowd she would be happy to hit McMahon.
Rousey hip tossed Triple H out of the ring, before setting her eyes on McMahon – who was still mouthing off at this point.
As McMahon tried to slap her, Rousey grabbed her arm and locked it in an armbar, before throwing her out of the ring too.
Rousey teased fans of WWE by hinting at a return to the sport, as she tweeted “We're just gettin' started...”
Rousey has done a lot for female combat sports, and she does indeed deserve all the perks and attention she gets!
Image:
By Bill (DSC09787) [CC BY 2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons