UFC Hall of Famer Considering her immense popularity and the spotlight she commanded during her matches, it’s hard to believe that Ronda Rousey’s UFC journey spanned under four years.
In that brief period, Rousey stepped into the octagon eight times, successfully defended her title six times, and emerged as a monumental figure in the sport’s history. Rousey was so occupied with being the symbol of women’s MMA that, according to UFC CEO Dana White, it may have hindered her ability to develop further as a fighter. Ronda replied to Dana White’s remarks about why she carried out the sport. Rousey explained that she attempted to carry the sport on her shoulders when she joined the UFC, acknowledging that those decisions were her own.
Critcally important remarks
“While she was doing what she was doing, building the sport and the UFC and women, all these other women were training to beat her,” White said.
She reminded Dana White that she was the one who brought women into the UFC before anyone else. Rousey recalled telling White that she would do whatever it took to justify his belief in her after becoming the pioneer who brought women into the UFC for the first time. “I had to be everything to everyone,” Champ told CBS Sports. “I had to promote as hard as I trained, and because I did that, we got as far as we are today.
Pioneer of the women’s division in UFC
The Champion worked hard to promote UFC as much as she could have done. In addition to promoting the sport and fighting whenever the UFC needed her, she explained how she suffered from health issues while competing, and these issues are part of life. Since stepping away from the UFC over these issues and pausing her professional wrestling career, Rousey has disclosed for the first time that recurrent concussions significantly influenced her choice to retire from fighting.
“As a fighter, you’re not supposed to show any weakness or talk about things like that or the inevitable neurological decline that comes with taking head shots,” Rousey said.
But at the end of the day, we are all humans, and we have weaknesses, as does the pioneer of women’s division in the UFC. People have different opinions, but it’s different when it comes to fighting. They shouldn’t be discouraging or saying things like that about such a great competitor, as Ronda herself said in the same interview: “A lot of people talk about it as if it’s making excuses or weaknesses or things like that, but I have the whole rest of my life to think about.”
Ronda Rousey as a best UFC fighter
Ronda never brought up her concussion history after her last UFC fight against Amanda Nunes in 2016 because she was already planning her future in WWE. Once she had finished with both fighting and wrestling, Champ opened up about her history of concussions, which began when she was a young swimmer.
“I wish that more people would [address it] because the longevity of our fighters is at stake,” Champ said in the same interview earlier. “I want all of these fighters to be able to get old gracefully and be able to hold their grandkids and not to be another of those cautionary tales.”
Rousey believes that even if she hadn’t planned to pursue a career in professional wrestling after her MMA days, she likely wouldn’t have talked about her difficulties while she was still active in the UFC. Having shared her own experiences with concussions, Rousey now hopes that other fighters will also come forward and discuss their similar challenges.
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