Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
Unless you've been living in a dark, deep, dank cave in the middle of downtown Bumfuck, Nowhere for the past 16 months or so, inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey, has become the most talked fighter in mixed martial arts. Even people who don't normally follow MMA all that much know about her because of all the mainstream exposure she's been getting.
Rousey, age 27, is a 4th dan black belt in Judo and competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Rousey efforts resulted in winning the bronze medal, making her the first American female in Olympics history to medal in Judo. Afterwards, she began training to go pro as an MMA fighter and made her debut in late March 2007 at a King of the Cage event.
In early March 2012, she became the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion by defeating Meisha Tate. She successfully defended the strap against Sarah Kaufman in August at the next to last Strikeforce event, as the company was purchaced by UFC in early 2013. Rousey signed with UFC and the Strikeforce title then became the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. She hasn't looked back since as Rousy extended her win/loss record to a perfect 10-0 last night at UFC 175 by defeating Alexis Davis via TKO only 16 seconds into the first round, successfully defending for the 4th time, though technically it's her 5th overall defense, in the UFC. Her first 8 fights were won by armbar submission, 7 of which were in the first round, while her last two have been won via TKO in the 1st round.
Why has she become such a "media darling", as it were? I think it's due to a combination of several factors.
1. She Wins & Dominates While Doing it - As I said earlier, 9 of Rousey's 10 fights have all ended in the 1st round. The only fight to make it past the 1st round was her title defense against Meisha Tate in December of last year, which ended in round 3 via submission. In contact sports, people have always loved it when a fight ends decisively. Once a fight goes to the judges, it can literally go either way. Even if a fighter looks like he or she has dominated his/her opponent through the fight, even if the owner of the company and most fans feel he/she clearly won the fight, the judges may not agree. We've seen that happen in boxing and MMA, probably the most recent example being Georges St-Pierre's split decision victory over Johny Hendricks last November and people are still talking about the controversy it caused since the vast majority feel that Hendricks should've won the fight.
2. She's Charismatic - Ronda Rousey also has a lot of charisma and isn't all shy about talking some smack. She's someone that's been heavily influenced by professional wrestling in this way, she's a long time fan of pro wrestling and as HUGE fan of WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. She even asked Piper's permission to use the "Rowdy" nickname herself, as her friends had been calling her that, as she didn't want to come off as disrespectful to a childhood hero. After meeting him through Gene LeBell, who trained Rousey & Piper and could probably still kick all kinds of ass at age 81, Piper personally gave her endorsement. Anyone who talks smack, however, is also influence by Muhammad Ali whether they know it or not. Ali's charismatic personality and showmanship helped jack his status to a level that very, very, very few athletes come close to.
3. She's Pretty Hot - Let's face it, guys like good looking women. We always have and we always will. Ronda Rousey, while definitely not feminine in the old fashioned & traditional sense, hasn't sacrificed her femininity. Essentially, she's now the hot chick that can kick the crap out of you. Some guys don't like strong women, especially if it's a woman who can physically beat them up if it boiled down to it, but the fact that she's physically attractive has only helped her career in terms of exposure.
Of course, it'll all die down to some degree at some point. Rousey will almost certainly lose at some point, which will cause some degree of momentum loss as it's unavoidable. It happened with Mike Tyson when he lost his first fight and it'll happen to Rousey. That is, if she doesn't wind up retiring at some point in the next year or two as she's starting to get a film career going. She's set to appear in Fast & Furious 7, she's set to have a female leading role in the Entourage flick and is set to star in something called Athena Project.
Rousey, age 27, is a 4th dan black belt in Judo and competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Rousey efforts resulted in winning the bronze medal, making her the first American female in Olympics history to medal in Judo. Afterwards, she began training to go pro as an MMA fighter and made her debut in late March 2007 at a King of the Cage event.
In early March 2012, she became the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion by defeating Meisha Tate. She successfully defended the strap against Sarah Kaufman in August at the next to last Strikeforce event, as the company was purchaced by UFC in early 2013. Rousey signed with UFC and the Strikeforce title then became the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. She hasn't looked back since as Rousy extended her win/loss record to a perfect 10-0 last night at UFC 175 by defeating Alexis Davis via TKO only 16 seconds into the first round, successfully defending for the 4th time, though technically it's her 5th overall defense, in the UFC. Her first 8 fights were won by armbar submission, 7 of which were in the first round, while her last two have been won via TKO in the 1st round.
Why has she become such a "media darling", as it were? I think it's due to a combination of several factors.
1. She Wins & Dominates While Doing it - As I said earlier, 9 of Rousey's 10 fights have all ended in the 1st round. The only fight to make it past the 1st round was her title defense against Meisha Tate in December of last year, which ended in round 3 via submission. In contact sports, people have always loved it when a fight ends decisively. Once a fight goes to the judges, it can literally go either way. Even if a fighter looks like he or she has dominated his/her opponent through the fight, even if the owner of the company and most fans feel he/she clearly won the fight, the judges may not agree. We've seen that happen in boxing and MMA, probably the most recent example being Georges St-Pierre's split decision victory over Johny Hendricks last November and people are still talking about the controversy it caused since the vast majority feel that Hendricks should've won the fight.
2. She's Charismatic - Ronda Rousey also has a lot of charisma and isn't all shy about talking some smack. She's someone that's been heavily influenced by professional wrestling in this way, she's a long time fan of pro wrestling and as HUGE fan of WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. She even asked Piper's permission to use the "Rowdy" nickname herself, as her friends had been calling her that, as she didn't want to come off as disrespectful to a childhood hero. After meeting him through Gene LeBell, who trained Rousey & Piper and could probably still kick all kinds of ass at age 81, Piper personally gave her endorsement. Anyone who talks smack, however, is also influence by Muhammad Ali whether they know it or not. Ali's charismatic personality and showmanship helped jack his status to a level that very, very, very few athletes come close to.
3. She's Pretty Hot - Let's face it, guys like good looking women. We always have and we always will. Ronda Rousey, while definitely not feminine in the old fashioned & traditional sense, hasn't sacrificed her femininity. Essentially, she's now the hot chick that can kick the crap out of you. Some guys don't like strong women, especially if it's a woman who can physically beat them up if it boiled down to it, but the fact that she's physically attractive has only helped her career in terms of exposure.
Of course, it'll all die down to some degree at some point. Rousey will almost certainly lose at some point, which will cause some degree of momentum loss as it's unavoidable. It happened with Mike Tyson when he lost his first fight and it'll happen to Rousey. That is, if she doesn't wind up retiring at some point in the next year or two as she's starting to get a film career going. She's set to appear in Fast & Furious 7, she's set to have a female leading role in the Entourage flick and is set to star in something called Athena Project.
