Her pedigree is unparalleled. Her mother was a Judo champion before her and Rousey eventually fulfilled her family's legacy by going on to become an Olympic level judoka. Consider this: she qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens at the age of 17.
Yes, she is one badass chick.
Once she made the transition to mixed marital arts, it quickly became clear she would be a force to be reckoned with. Amateur record: 3-0, all finishes within the first minute. Professional record: 3-0, all finishes within the first minute.
That's not a natural proclivity of mine for redundancy nor a typo. Rousey has submitted all six of her career opponents via armbar and not one of them has lasted longer than one minute inside the cage with her.
On top of being an exceptional talent once the bell rings, she's also shown an awareness of the marketing aspect of a prize fighter's career. At just 24-years-old, her future is bright ... if women's MMA can gain a foothold in the current landscape of the industry.
As she told MMAFighting.com, she's more than willing to accept the reality of the situation and do what it takes to make things happen for herself and the business she wants to be a part of ... even if folks don't like it.
"I feel like what women's MMA needs is not some nice girl. Everyone's playing the nice card and they're not willing to go under any kind of criticism and I really feel that that's not what we need if we want to get as much exposure as possible. We need someone more like a Tito Ortiz-type personality -- not that I'm trying to be that much of a d--k, no offense to Tito. But I want to be one of those people who people either love them or hate them and groups of people actually have heated discussions about it. I want there to be attention on the sport, and if I have to attract some bad attention to get that, then fine I'll be willing to be that person."Rousey was recently the center of controversy when her bout against Sarah D'Alelio at Strikeforce Challengers 18 was stopped after D'Alelio screamed upon being placed in one of Rousey's trademark armbars.
But she never tapped.
Despite that, the fight was stopped as though she did. This caused a small uproar in the mixed martial arts community but "Rowdy" Ronda doesn't feel bad about it in the slightest. In fact, she felt as though she was too nice and maybe she should have just ripped D'Alelio's arm off to leave no doubt.
Sound like your kind of lady?
Any time a discussion of Women's MMA comes up it inevitably turns to how aesthetically pleasing its participants are. All too often it seems that a fight like Miesha Tate vs. Marloes Coenen is overshadowed by the fact that more fans than aren't are concentrating most of their attention on which woman is better looking.
But you know what? That's just the way it is and Rousey isn't going to fight it. In fact, she's more than willing to embrace it.
"I mean, it's more entertaining to watch two [attractive] girls wrestling around than two ugly girls wrestling around. I'm sorry I had to like, point out the elephant in the room, but that's the truth. That's what people want to see and that's what's going to sell tickets and that's what's going to make money and that's what's going to get all of us a better salary. So yes, I think it's very important for there to be good-looking girls fighting."She's a machine inside the cage but she's got the look to draw in the crowds to watch her put in work, even if she is the one-minute woman.
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