Ronda Rousey
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Ronda Jean Rousey ( ; born February 1, 1987) is an American
professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...
, actress, and former
judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
and
mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...
. She is best known for her tenures in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...
(UFC) and
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
. She was the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo by winning bronze at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
. Lynn Roethke had previously won a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics, but her medal was not counted toward the US medal count due to Women's Judo being a demonstration sport. Rousey began her mixed martial arts (MMA) career with
King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock Jr. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstre ...
in 2011. She soon joined
Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...
, becoming their last Women's Bantamweight Champion, holding the championship until Strikeforce was acquired by the UFC. Rousey was part of the UFC's first female fight at
UFC 157 ''UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 23, 2013, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background The headline bout between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche w ...
, was their inaugural Women's Bantamweight Champion, and held the record for most UFC title defenses (6) by a female, until being surpassed by Valentina Shevchenko in 2022. Rousey retired from MMA in 2016 and was the first female fighter inducted into the
UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In a ...
in 2018. Rousey began a career in
professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
in 2018, signing with WWE, and debuted at
WrestleMania 34 WrestleMania 34 was a 2018 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 34th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, held for ...
. She won the
Raw Women's Championship The WWE Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two women's world titles for WWE's main roster, a ...
at that year's
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...
, and headlined WWE's first and only all-women's pay-per-view
Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
, in which she defended the title. Rousey lost the title in the first women's WrestleMania main event at WrestleMania 35. Rousey returned at the 2022 Royal Rumble, winning the women's Royal Rumble match. That year, she would win the SmackDown Women's Championship
twice Twice (; Japanese language, Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Tuwaisu''; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon ...
, making her an overall three-time women's world champion in WWE. She became the eighth Women's Triple Crown Champion when she won the
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling Women's Tag Team Championship, women's tag team Professional wrestling, championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It is th ...
with
Shayna Baszler Shayna Andrea Baszler ( ; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and a former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she became a former List of NXT Women's Champions, two-time and lon ...
. Rousey and Baszler also unified the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships. After leaving WWE in October 2023, she began wrestling on the
independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...
. Rousey is the only woman to become a champion in both the UFC and WWE as well as the only woman to headline a pay-per-view event in both companies. She was voted the best female athlete of all time in a 2015 ESPN fan poll, and
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
described her as "one of the defining athletes of the 21st century." Rousey has also appeared in films, including '' The Expendables 3'' (2014), ''
Furious 7 ''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and the seventh i ...
'' (2015), and '' Mile 22'' (2018), and published her
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
, ''My Fight / Your Fight'', in 2015.


Early life

Ronda Jean Rousey was born in
Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...
on February 1, 1987, the youngest of three daughters of AnnMaria De Mars (''née'' Waddell) and Ronald John Rousey, after whom she was named.Pilon, Mary (November 10, 2015)
"Caged: What Drives Ronda Rousey to Wake Up and Fight"
''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
''.
Her mother, a decorated
judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
, was the first American to win a World Judo Championship (in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, as ''AnnMaria Burns''). Rousey is of English, Polish, Venezuelan, Trinidadian, and Canadian ancestry. One of her maternal great-grandfathers, Alfred Waddell, was a Trinidadian doctor who emigrated to Canada and became one of the first black physicians in North America, while a maternal great-grandmother was born in
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
, Venezuela. Her stepfather is an
aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
. When Rousey was eight years old, her biological father, who had broken his back while sledding with his kids, died by suicide. AnnMaria pursued a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in educational psychology at the
University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...
as her daughters grew up. For the first six years of her life, Rousey struggled with speech and could not form an intelligible sentence due to
apraxia Apraxia is a motor disorder caused by damage to the brain (specifically the posterior parietal cortex or corpus callosum), which causes difficulty with motor planning to perform tasks or movements. The nature of the damage determines the di ...
, a neurological childhood speech sound disorder. This speech disorder was attributed to being born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. When Rousey was three years old, her mother and father moved from Riverside, California, to
Jamestown, North Dakota Jamestown is a city in and the county seat of Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, ninth most populous city in North ...
, to obtain intensive speech therapy with specialists at
Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota, United States. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, MSU evolved into a university in 1987 and is currently the state's third-largest, offering undergraduate and ...
. Rousey dropped out of high school and later earned her
GED Ged or GED may refer to: Places * Ged, Louisiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * Ged, a village in Bichiwara Tehsil, Dungarpur District, Rajasthan, India * Delaware Coastal Airport, in Delaware, US, callsign GED People * Ged B ...
. She was raised between Jamestown and
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, retiring from her judo career at 21 and starting her MMA career at 22 when she realized that she did not want to spend her life in a conventional field of work.


Olympic judo career

Rousey began
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
with her mother at the age of 11. Rousey trained with her mother until she was 13, when she accidentally broke her mother's wrist. At 17, Rousey was the youngest judoka to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. Rousey lost in her first match to eventual silver medalist Claudia Heill in the 63 kg bracket. Also that year, Rousey won a gold medal at the 2004 World Judo Juniors Championships in
Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. In April 2006, she became the first female U.S. judoka in nearly 10 years to win an A-Level tournament as she went 5–0 to claim gold at the Birmingham World Cup in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
. Later that year, the 19-year-old won the bronze medal at the 2006 Junior World Championships, becoming the first U.S. athlete to win two Junior World medals. In February 2007, Rousey moved up to 70 kg where she ranked as one of the top three women in the world. She won the gold medal at the
2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...
and the silver medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships. In August 2008, Rousey competed at the
2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...
in
Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. She lost her quarterfinal to the Dutch ex-world champion Edith Bosch but qualified for a bronze medal match through the
repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...
bracket. Rousey defeated Annett Boehm by Yuko to win a bronze medal (Judo offers two bronze medals per weight class). With the victory, Rousey became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women's judo since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992. Rousey ultimately compiled a competition judo record of 56 wins and 19 losses. Rousey retired from judo at 21 after the Olympics. After winning her Olympic medal, Rousey shared a studio apartment with a roommate in Venice Beach, California and worked three jobs as a bartender and cocktail waitress to support herself and her dog.


Mixed martial arts career


Training

When Rousey started learning judo, her mother took her to judo clubs run by her old teammates. Rousey went to
North Hollywood, Los Angeles North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ...
Hayastan MMA Academy, which was run by Gokor Chivichyan, where she trained with fellow future MMA fighters Manny Gamburyan and Karo Parisyan. According to Rousey, Hayastan practiced "a more brawling style of judo versus the more technical Japanese style." Rousey trained mostly with males bigger than she was and often got frustrated and cried when she got thrown and could not throw somebody. "Probably from 2002 to 2005 I cried every single night of training," Rousey remarked. Rousey trained closely with Gamburyan. After Rousey injured her knee when she was 16, Gamburyan volunteered to open the gym every afternoon and work with her personally. Back in 2004, her teammates thought Rousey "would kill these girls" in MMA, but also thought she was "too pretty to get hit in the face" and should keep doing judo. While Gamburyan and Parisyan went into MMA, Rousey stuck with judo but remained in touch with MMA through them. The first MMA fight she took an interest in watching was Manny Gamburyan versus Nate Diaz in The Ultimate Fighter finale. Rousey stated she never got as excited watching judo or any other sport. After the 2008 Olympics the following year, she decided to start MMA through Team Hayastan. Rousey also trained at the Glendale Glendale Fighting Club, to which she was introduced by Gamburyan and other Hayastan teammates. She started training under her long-term MMA coach Edmond Tarverdyan at Glendale Fighting Club. She trained in
Jiu Jitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...
at Dynamix MMA with Henry Akins from 2011 to 2014 and went on to train with Ryron Gracie and Rener Gracie of Gracie Academy, as well as B.J. Penn of Art of Jiu-Jitsu. In
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
, Rousey trained under the
Romanian American Romanian Americans () are Americans who have Romanian ancestry. According to the 2023 American Community Survey, 425,738 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, which a ...
Leo Frîncu.


Early career (2010–2011)

Rousey made her mixed martial arts debut as an amateur on August 6, 2010. She defeated Hayden Munoz by submission due to an armbar in 23 seconds. She entered the quarterfinals of the Tuff-N-Uff 145 lbs women's tournament on November 12, 2010, and submitted promotional veteran Autumn Richardson with an armbar in 57 seconds. Rousey faced Taylor Stratford in the Tuff-N-Uff tournament semi-finals on January 7, 2011, and won by technical submission due to an armbar in 24 seconds. She then announced plans to turn pro and was replaced in the tournament. Rousey has a 3–0 record in amateur MMA competition, and the combined duration of all her amateur fights is under 2 minutes. Rousey made her professional mixed martial arts debut on March 27, 2011, at King of the Cage: Turning Point. She submitted Ediane Gomes with an armbar in 25 seconds. Rousey faced kickboxing champion Charmaine Tweet in an MMA bout at Hard Knocks Fighting Championship: School of Hard Knocks 12 on June 17, 2011, in
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
, Canada. She submitted Tweet with an armbar in 49 seconds.


Strikeforce (2011–2012)


Early success

Rousey was scheduled to make her
Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...
debut against Sarah D'Alelio on July 30, 2011, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson in
Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village previously served as the headquarters for Transform Holdco L ...
. The fight was postponed and eventually took place on the Strikeforce Challengers 18 main card on August 12, 2011, in
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. Rousey defeated D'Alelio by technical submission due to an armbar early in the first round. The victory was controversial. Rousey claimed that D'Alelio yelled "tap" more than once and that D'Alelio denied this and claimed to have yelled "Aaaahhh". According to the unified rules of mixed martial arts, either one of these utterances would still be a verbal submission. Rousey faced
Julia Budd Julia Budd (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Kickboxing, kickboxer competing in the Featherweight (MMA), featherweight division. She was the first List of Bellator MMA champions#Women's Featherweight ...
at Strikeforce Challengers 20 on November 18, 2011, in Las Vegas. She won via submission due to an armbar in the first round, dislocating Budd's elbow in the process. Following the fight, she announced plans to move down to 135 pounds to challenge Miesha Tate, the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion at the time, with whom she had developed a much-publicized rivalry. During his appearance on ''
The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It was initiated on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and produce ...
'', Rousey's trainer Edmond Tarverdyan said that Rousey started her MMA career in the 145 lb division because she had to be able to make weight at short notice, due to the difficulty of finding willing opponents.


Women's Bantamweight Champion

Rousey challenged Tate for her Strikeforce title on March 3, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. She defeated Tate by submission due to an armbar in the first round, again dislocating her opponent's elbow, to become the new Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey appeared in ''All Access: Ronda Rousey'' on Showtime. The half-hour special debuted on August 8, 2012. UFC President Dana White revealed during the program that "In the next 10 years, if there's a woman in the octagon, it's probably going to be Ronda Rousey." The second installment of the special aired on August 15, 2012. Rousey also appeared on '' Conan''. Rousey defended her strikeforce title against Sarah Kaufman at '' Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman'' on August 18, 2012, in San Diego, California. Rousey said that she would throw Kaufman's arm at her corner after ripping it off with an
armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...
, and threatened to choke or pound Kaufman's face to death. During the fight, Rousey quickly took Kaufman down and submitted her with an armbar in 54 seconds to retain the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship. After the fight, Rousey announced that if former Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion
Cris Cyborg Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally as Cris Cyborg and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos, is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and Professional boxing, professional boxer who com ...
wanted to fight her, it would have to take place at bantamweight.


Ultimate Fighting Championship (2012–2016)


First female UFC Champion

In November 2012, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...
announced that Rousey had become the first female fighter to sign with the UFC. UFC President Dana White officially announced at the '' UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz'' pre-fight press conference that Rousey was the first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey originally opposed using the nickname her friends gave her, "Rowdy", feeling it would be disrespectful to
professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper. After meeting Piper (circa 2012 or 2013) through Gene LeBell, who helped train both of them, Piper personally gave his approval.Kurchak, Sarah (January 3, 2014)
" 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper Talks About Handing His Nickname Over to Ronda Rousey"
. ''
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
''.
Rousey defended her title against
Liz Carmouche Liz Carmouche (born February 19, 1984) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently signed to the PFL. She formerly competed in Bellator MMA, where she was the last Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion. Carmouche also competed for ...
on February 23, 2013, at
UFC 157 ''UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 23, 2013, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background The headline bout between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche w ...
. Despite being caught in an early standing neck crank attempt from Carmouche, Rousey went on to successfully defend her Bantamweight Championship title, winning the fight at 4:49 into the first round by submission due to an armbar. Carmouche dislocated Ronda Rousey's jaw during the fight. Rousey faced Miesha Tate, in a rematch from Strikeforce, at
UFC 168 ''UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on December 28, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Middleweight Championship rematch between current champion ...
on December 28, 2013. After going past the first two rounds, with Tate surviving an armbar attempt and a triangle attempt, Rousey finally submitted Tate via armbar in the third round to retain her Bantamweight Championship. In an interview with ''Los Angeles Daily News'', Rousey said she had lost muscle during her film commitments and not been able to regain her full strength for the Tate fight.


Record-setting championship reign

Rousey defended her UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship against fellow Olympic medalist and undefeated fighter
Sara McMann Sara McMann (born September 24, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. She is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...
in the main event at UFC 170 on February 22, 2014. Rousey won the fight by TKO after knocking down McMann with a knee to the body just over a minute into the first round. This marked Rousey's first career win via a method other than armbar. The stoppage led to controversy, with some sports writers and attendants finding it premature. In 2014, Rousey was named one of espnW's Impact 25. Rousey defended the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship against Alexis Davis in the co-main event at UFC 175 on July 5, 2014. She won the fight via knockout 16 seconds into the first round. Rousey broke her thumb during the fight. The emphatic win also earned Rousey her second ''Performance of the Night'' bonus award. A match between Rousey and
Cat Zingano Cat Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on Apri ...
was scheduled to take place at UFC 182 for the women's bantamweight title. However, the fight was moved to February 28, 2015, at UFC 184. Rousey defeated Zingano with an armbar in 14 seconds, the shortest title match in the history of UFC until
Conor McGregor Conor Anthony McGregor (born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) UFC Featherweight Championship, Featherweight and UFC Lightweight Championship, Li ...
defeated José Aldo in 13 seconds 11 months later. Rousey fought Bethe Correia on August 1, 2015, in Brazil, at
UFC 190 ''UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 1, 2015, at the Jeunesse Arena, HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between former ...
, winning the bout by knockout 34 seconds into the first round. Rousey dedicated the match to "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who died the day before, commenting that Piper was one of her inspirations and had endorsed her use of his nickname. This fight earned her another '' Performance of the Night'' award. The bout was Rousey's sixth with the UFC, all of which had been victories. She spent 1077 seconds in the octagon to attain all six and accumulated $1,080,000 in prize money; this equated to nearly $1002.79 for every second spent fighting. Her average time of 2 minutes and 59 seconds was less than the average time of a single match in every UFC weight class, the fastest of which was the Heavyweight division with a time of 7 minutes and 59 seconds.


Title loss and subsequent retirement

In her seventh title defense, Rousey faced Holly Holm in the main event at
UFC 193 ''UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm'' was a mixed martial arts event held on November 14, 2015, at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. It was the most attended UFC event in the history of the company at the time, with 56,214 people filling the stadiu ...
on November 15, 2015. Despite being a heavy betting favorite, Rousey was out struck by Holm for most of the bout, and was knocked out with a kick to the neck in round two, losing her title and undefeated streak in the process. After the fight, Rousey and Holm were each awarded a ''Fight of the Night'' bonus of $50,000. She was also medically suspended by UFC on November 18, 2015. She was medically cleared on December 9, 2015. The loss to Holm impacted Rousey significantly. Upon her return to the United States after the fight, she hid her face from the paparazzi with a purple pillow. In a February 16, 2016, appearance on ''
The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...
'', Rousey stated that she considered suicide in the immediate aftermath of her head kick KO defeat to Holm. This fight earned her another '' Fight of the Night'' award. After over a year away from the sport, Rousey returned to face champion Amanda Nunes on December 30, 2016, in the main event at UFC 207. Rousey lost the fight via TKO early in round one. Although she did not formally announce her retirement, when asked if she would fight MMA again by Ellen DeGeneres in 2018, Rousey replied, "I think it's just as likely as me going back to another Olympics for judo." She was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2018.


Mixed martial arts fighting style

In a 2012 interview before her first match with Miesha Tate, Rousey said: "When I was doing judo my main advantage was my conditioning and my pace; I used to wear people out." She had taken to heart a quote from Ryoko Tani to fight every five seconds as if it was the last five seconds of the match. A decorated judoka, Rousey typically grounds an opponent with hip throws and sweeps, then seeks to finish with strikes or submissions. From top position, she usually attacks with punches from
side control In grappling, side control (often also called side mount, cross mount, 100 kilos) is a dominant ground grappling position where the top combatant is lying perpendicularly over the face-up bottom combatant in such a way that the legs are free an ...
; in rear position, she often secures a back mount and attacks with head strikes. Rousey is right-handed, but is a left-handed judoka fighting in an orthodox stance as a striker. Rousey's favorite MMA fighter is Fedor Emelianenko, whose fighting style she works to emulate. Rousey is well known for her skill in grappling and is particularly noted for her string of victories by
armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...
. Against accomplished strikers, such as Julia Budd and Sarah Kaufman, Rousey has typically brought the fight down and sought a quick submission. Only powerful grapplers, such as Miesha Tate and Liz Carmouche, have been competitive with Rousey on the ground. During early fights in her MMA career, Rousey mainly used striking to set up judo. She became a more proficient striker following her UFC debut, leading to her first wins by way of stoppage. While standing, Rousey normally uses
jab A jab is a type of punch used in martial arts. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a fighting stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended from the side of t ...
s, knees, and overhand rights. She seldom stood side on with a set boxing stance, but would square up to the opponent, while still generating strong striking power, especially when near the fence, or clinching opponents with the left hand to close the distance. While discussing her signature armbar in an interview, Rousey noted that her judoka mother jumped on her every morning to wake her up with armbars. Rousey is notable for introducing trash talking to women's MMA. In many interviews Rousey has used harsh language and openly downplayed the abilities of her opponents, which she explains as a way to generate more publicity for the sport.


Professional wrestling career


Background

Rousey is a
professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
fan. She,
Shayna Baszler Shayna Andrea Baszler ( ; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and a former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she became a former List of NXT Women's Champions, two-time and lon ...
, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir have dubbed themselves "The Four Horsewomen", a play on The Four Horsemen professional wrestling stable, with the blessing of members
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...
and
Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Agent, road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. Although he ...
.


WWE


Sporadic appearances and signing (2014–2017)

The Four Horsewomen were acknowledged on camera and commentary as such, in the front row at
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
's
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...
event on August 17, 2014. The group also went backstage during the event, meeting
Paul Heyman Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former executive, promoter, and commentator. He is signed to WWE as the on-screen manager of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed, and is widely regard ...
, among others. Rousey was interviewed by WWE.com that night; when asked if she, like
Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...
, would cross over to wrestling, she replied: "You never know". At
WrestleMania 31 WrestleMania 31 was a 2015 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 31st annual WrestleMania and took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's S ...
on March 29, 2015, the Four Horsewomen were seated in the front row. During an in-ring argument between The Rock and The Authority (
Stephanie McMahon Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( ; ; born September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023. The daughter of Vince McMahon, Vince and Lind ...
and
Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...
), McMahon slapped The Rock and ordered him to leave "her ring". She taunted him, saying he would not hit a woman. He left, paused and walked over to Rousey to a loud ovation. He then helped her into the ring and said that she would be happy to hit McMahon for him. After a staredown, The Rock attacked Triple H. When he stumbled toward Rousey, she tossed him out of the ring. McMahon tried to slap her, was blocked and Rousey grabbed her arm, teasing an armbar, before throwing her out of the ring. Rousey and The Rock celebrated in the ring, while The Authority retreated with the implication of revenge. The segment was replayed and discussed throughout the next night's '' Raw'' with the commentators hyping a tweet Rousey made earlier that day, in which she implied a return to WWE with "We're just gettin' started...". On July 13, 14, and September 12, 2017, the Horsewomen appeared in the audience of the Mae Young Classic to support their compatriot Shayna Baszler, who was making her WWE debut in the tournament. Additionally, during the event, all four Horsewomen had a face-off with
Charlotte Flair Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr (born April 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Charlotte Flair. Flair is a second-generation professional wrestler, being t ...
,
Becky Lynch Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987), better known by the ring name Becky Lynch, is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand and is the current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion in her ...
, and Bayley, who, in WWE together with
Sasha Banks Sacha, Sasha, or Sascha may refer to: People * Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha Musicians * Sacha (singer), born Sacha Visagie, Canadian singer and songwriter * Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alex ...
, were also known as the Four Horsewomen, hinting at a possible future
feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
between the two groups. It was then reported in 2017 that Rousey had signed with WWE on a full-time basis and had been training at the
WWE Performance Center WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science and medical facilities as well as live events and ...
in
Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
. She also trained under
Brian Kendrick Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE. He is also known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestlin ...
at his wrestling school.


Raw Women's Champion (2018–2019)

Rousey made a surprise appearance at the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...
on January 28, 2018, confronting Raw Women's Champion
Alexa Bliss Alexis Cabrera ( Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was assigne ...
, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, and Asuka, who had just won the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match.
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
immediately revealed during the segment that she had signed a full-time contract with WWE. The jacket which Rousey wore during this appearance belonged to "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, given to her by his son. On February 25 at the
Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was created by Triple H, and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure which ...
pay-per-view, Rousey was involved in an in-ring altercation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, after which she signed her WWE contract ( in storyline), thus making her a part of the Raw brand. Rousey made her in-ring debut at
WrestleMania 34 WrestleMania 34 was a 2018 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 34th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, held for ...
, WWE's flagship event, in a mixed tag team match pitting Rousey and
Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...
against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. At WrestleMania on April 8, Rousey submitted McMahon with her trademark armbar submission hold to secure the win for her team. Her debut performance was widely praised by both fans and wrestling critics, with wrestling veteran
Jim Cornette James Mark Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American author, sports historian, and podcaster who previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, photographer, promoter, tra ...
calling it the greatest debut ever. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' noted the positive fan reaction, stating "The match exceeded expectations, with fans firmly behind Rousey" and " ans weresurprised t herhigh-level coordination and quality of wrestling. Even those who were not agreed the match was entertaining". In May, she was challenged by then-champion Nia Jax, setting up Rousey's shot at the Raw Women's Championship at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. At the event on June 17, Rousey won the match by disqualification after interference by
Alexa Bliss Alexis Cabrera ( Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was assigne ...
, who attacked both Rousey and Jax and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract (which she won earlier that night) to win the title instead. For her first singles match and title opportunity, she was once again praised by fans and critics for her performance, with CNET stating "For the first time, WE'sbiggest mainstream star is a woman". They believed that despite "worry was that the match would expose Rousey's own inexperience, which would greatly damage her aura and star power", she "came across as a formidable, believable star wrestler. The match was good, but she was awesome". Throughout the next two months, Rousey would start her first
feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
in WWE with Alexa Bliss over the title, which included a suspension (again in
kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...
) after Rousey attacked Bliss, Angle, and multiple officials. After honoring her suspension from in-ring competition, Rousey received a Raw Women's Championship match by Raw general manager Kurt Angle against Bliss at
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...
. At the event on August 19, Rousey squashed Bliss to win the title, her first championship win in WWE. In a rematch between the two that took place a month later on September 16 at
Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a four-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link f ...
, Rousey once again submitted Bliss to retain the title. Throughout her championship reign, Rousey went on to fend off title contenders such as Nikki Bella (in the
main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...
of the first all women's pay-per-view
Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
on October 28),
Mickie James Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) Additional January 6, 2017. is an American Country music, country singer and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE. She is also signed to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as Cre ...
, Nia Jax, Natalya, and
Sasha Banks Sacha, Sasha, or Sascha may refer to: People * Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha Musicians * Sacha (singer), born Sacha Visagie, Canadian singer and songwriter * Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alex ...
. Rousey was supposed to face Becky Lynch at the
Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...
pay-per-view in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, but Lynch was legitimately injured during an invasion angle just minutes after she attacked Rousey backstage. At the event on November 18, Rousey faced Charlotte Flair instead, and won via disqualification after Flair attacked her with a kendo stick and steel chairs. A month later, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, Rousey gained revenge against both Flair and Lynch as she pushed them off a ladder during their match, also helping Asuka win the SmackDown Women's Championship. Shortly after she retained her title against Bayley on the January 28, 2019, episode of ''Raw'', Rousey continued her feud with Becky Lynch (who had won the Royal Rumble match) after the latter chose to challenge her in a title match at WrestleMania 35. On the February 11 episode of ''Raw'',
Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...
suspended Lynch for 60 days in storyline and announced Charlotte Flair replaced Lynch as Rousey's WrestleMania opponent. On the March 4 episode of ''Raw'', Rousey turned
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...
for the first time in her career when she attacked both Flair and Lynch. At Fastlane on March 10, Lynch faced Flair in a match where if Lynch won, she would be inserted back into the Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania. Rousey attacked Lynch during the match, giving Lynch the disqualification victory and thus a WrestleMania triple threat match between Rousey, Flair, and Lynch was made official. On March 25, WWE announced Rousey's title defense against Lynch and Flair would be the main event of WrestleMania 35, making it the first women's match to close WrestleMania. At the event on April 7, in what was changed to a
Winner Takes All match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...
for Rousey's Raw and Flair's SmackDown Women's Championships, Lynch controversially pinned Rousey to win both titles. The commentary and production team commented that Rousey was in the ring saying her shoulders were not down for the full three-count and showed a replay of the ending pin-pointing this fact. Nonetheless, this gave Rousey her first loss in WWE and ended her championship reign at 231 days; it would remain the longest reign as Raw Women's Champion until Lynch's own would surpass Rousey's.


SmackDown Women's Champion (2022)

On January 29, 2022, at the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...
, Rousey returned to WWE as a
face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...
, entering at No. 28 in the Women's Royal Rumble match and eliminating Brie Bella, Nikki A.S.H, and
Shotzi Ashley Louise Alfaro (Birth name, née Urbanski; born March 14, 1992), better known by the ring name Shotzi Blackheart, is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Shotzi ...
. She won by last eliminating Charlotte Flair, thus earning a championship match at
WrestleMania 38 WrestleMania 38 was a 2022 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 38th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturda ...
. On the February 4 episode of '' SmackDown'' (her first appearance on the SmackDown brand), Rousey chose to challenge Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at
WrestleMania 38 WrestleMania 38 was a 2022 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 38th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturda ...
. At
Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was created by Triple H, and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel structure which ...
on February 19, Rousey and Naomi defeated Flair and Sonya Deville. Rousey's rift with Flair continued over the next few weeks, and on the first night of WrestleMania 38 on April 2, Flair defeated Rousey to retain the title, ending Rousey's undefeated singles streak and giving Rousey her second loss. On the following ''SmackDown'', Rousey challenged Flair to an "I Quit" match, which she declined. However, the match was subsequently granted and scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, where Rousey defeated Flair to win the title. On the May 13 episode of ''SmackDown'', she retained her title against Raquel Rodriguez in an open challenge. At Money in the Bank on July 2, Rousey retained her title against Natalya, but after the match, Liv Morgan successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Rousey, ending her reign at 55 days. Rousey then challenged Morgan for the title at SummerSlam 2022. At the event on July 30, Rousey lost to Morgan in controversial fashion, with Morgan winning by pinfall despite submitting to Rousey's armbar while her shoulders were down. After the match, Rousey attacked Morgan and the referee, turning heel for the first time since 2019. As a result of attacking the referee, Rousey was (kayfabe) suspended from WWE. After her suspension was lifted, Rousey won a fatal five-way elimination match on the September 9 episode of ''SmackDown'' to earn a rematch against Morgan for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Extreme Rules. The following week, Morgan challenged Rousey to an Extreme Rules match for the title, which Rousey accepted. At the event on October 8, Rousey defeated Morgan to win her second SmackDown Women's Championship. On the October 28 episode of ''SmackDown'', Rousey retained her title against the returning Emma in an open challenge. At Survivor Series: WarGames on November 26, Rousey retained her title against Shotzi with help from Shayna Baszler. On the December 30 episode of ''SmackDown'', Rousey retained her title against Raquel Rodriguez. After the match, Rousey was confronted by the returning Charlotte Flair, who challenged Rousey to an impromptu title match, which she accepted. Rousey ended up losing the title to Flair in under a minute, ending her second reign at 83 days.


Storyline with Shayna Baszler and first retirement (2023)

After a brief hiatus, Rousey returned on the February 10 episode of ''SmackDown'' to help Shayna Baszler attack Liv Morgan and Tegan Nox, officially beginning an alliance between the two. On Night 2 of WrestleMania 39, Rousey and Baszler won the women's WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match despite Rousey barely being involved in the match due to a fractured elbow. As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Rousey and Baszler were drafted to the Raw brand as a team. On the May 29 episode of ''Raw'', Rousey and Baszler won a fatal four-way tag team match for the vacant
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling Women's Tag Team Championship, women's tag team Professional wrestling, championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It is th ...
; Rousey also became the eighth WWE Women's Triple Crown Champion in the process. On the June 23 episode of ''SmackDown'', Rousey and Baszler defeated Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn to unify the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships, with the latter retired in the process. At Money in the Bank, Rousey and Baszler lost the tag team title to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez when Baszler turned on her, ending their reign at 32 days. Rousey lost to Baszler at
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...
in an MMA Rules match by technical submission, a match that was panned by fans. This was Rousey's first WWE loss by submission (even though she actually didn't tap out). After the match, it was reported that she was leaving WWE, however, this was not confirmed and she was listed on the active roster page on WWE.com until October 28 when she was moved to the alumni section. Just prior on her Instagram on October 11, Rousey said she had retired. During the promotion of her first autobiography, Rousey criticized her time in WWE and Vince McMahon. She also pointed that she retired due the amount of concussions she had during her time as an MMA fighter.


Independent circuit (2023)

On October 26, 2023, Rousey came out of retirement, teaming with Marina Shafir to defeat her trainer
Brian Kendrick Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE. He is also known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestlin ...
and Taya Valkyrie at a Lucha VaVoom event. On October 28, Wrestling Revolver (REVOLVER) announced that Rousey would be making her REVOLVER debut on November 16 at their Unreal event in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. At the event, she and Shafir wrestled the team of
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
and Billie Starkz to a no contest. The following night during the '' ROH Honor Club TV'' tapings, Rousey made her
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
(ROH) debut, where she and Shafir defeated Athena and Starkz in a rematch.


Other ventures

In January 2022, Rousey was among the top 20 richest MMA fighters with US$12 million net worth. She was the only woman in the top 20.


Magazine appearances

Rousey appeared nude on the cover of ''ESPN The Magazine''s 2012 '' Body Issue'' and in a pictorial therein. In May 2013, Rousey was ranked 29 on the '' Maxim Hot 100''. She also appeared on the cover and in a pictorial of the September 2013 issue. In 2015, Rousey became the first woman featured on the cover of ''Australian Men's Fitness'', appearing on their November edition. Rousey was on the cover of the January 2016 issue for ''The Ring'' magazine. She became the first mixed martial artist to ever appear on the cover of the boxing magazine and the second woman as well, after Cathy Davis in 1978. In February 2016, she appeared in body paint as one of three cover athletes on the cover of the ''
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted ...
''.


Films and television

Rousey co-starred in '' The Expendables 3'' (2014), marking her first role in a major motion picture. In 2015, she appeared in the film ''
Furious 7 ''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and the seventh i ...
'', and played herself in the film '' Entourage''. In October 2015, Rousey became the first female athlete to guest host ESPN's ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande,  Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
''. Rousey hosted the January 23, 2016, episode of the late-night variety show ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'', with musical guest
Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...
. Rousey appeared in the Season 2, Episode 20 episode of '' Blindspot'' playing the role of Devon Penberthy, a prison inmate serving time for transporting weapons across state lines. A number of starring film roles have been developed for Rousey, including an adaptation of her autobiography, ''My Fight / Your Fight'', at Paramount, ''The Athena Project'' at
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
, the
Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy '' Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy '' The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night ...
-directed action film '' Mile 22''. Rousey was scheduled to star in a remake of the 1989
Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze ( ; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer. Known for his romantic, tough, and comedic roles in blockbusters and cult films, Swayze was nominated for three Golden Glob ...
action drama '' Road House''. ''Road House'' would have marked her biggest acting job to date. According to '' Variety'', Rousey reached out to Swayze's widow,
Lisa Niemi Lisa Niemi Swayze (born Lisa Anne Haapaniemi on May 26, 1956) is an American writer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and director. She is the widow of actor and dancer Patrick Swayze. Early life Lisa Anne Haapaniemi was born in Houston, Houst ...
, to ask for her blessing, which Niemi gave.Kroll, Justin (September 9, 2015)
"Ronda Rousey to Star in 'Road House' Reboot"
. '' Variety''.
However, the ''Road House'' project was cancelled in 2016. On August 18, 2019, it was revealed that Rousey is appearing as a recurring character Lena Bosko in the third season of Fox's ''
9-1-1 911, sometimes written , is an emergency telephone number for Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Maldives, Palau, Panama, Iraq, the Philippines, Sint Maarten, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as ...
'' series. During her first day of shooting, she injured two fingers after her left hand was jammed in a boat door. The tip of her ring finger was fractured while her middle finger was broken with the tendon nearly severed. Rousey was rushed to the hospital, where her middle finger was mended with a metal plate and screws. In September 2021, Rousey hosted ''Rowdy's Places'' on ESPN+. This ten-episode limited series saw Ronda speak with experts within the worlds of MMA, wrestling, boxing and more to uncover why combat sports have been a global sensation for a millennium.


Video games

On July 9, 2018, Rousey was confirmed as one of the two pre-order bonus characters for the video game '' WWE 2K19'' (the other being wrestling veteran
Rey Mysterio Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest '' luch ...
). She previously appeared in ''
EA Sports UFC ''EA Sports UFC'' is a mixed martial arts fighting video game developed in a collaboration between EA Canada and SkyBox Labs, and published by EA Sports for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bra ...
'', '' EA Sports UFC 2'' and '' EA Sports UFC 3''. She later appeared in '' WWE 2K20'', '' WWE 2K Battlegrounds'', '' WWE 2K22'' as a downloadable character, '' WWE 2K23 and WWE 2K24'.'' Rousey has also appeared in the ''EA Sports UFC'', ''WWE SuperCard'', ''WWE Champions'' and ''WWE Mayhem'' mobile games as a playable character. On January 17, 2019, it was confirmed that Rousey would be voicing Sonya Blade in the video game ''
Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and a sequel to '' Mortal Kombat X'' (20 ...
''. On February 18, 2020, Rousey announced her first stream on Facebook Gaming and donated all stream profits to charity. On November 30, 2022, Rousey was added as a playable character to the game '' Raid: Shadow Legends''.


Personal life

As of 2023, Rousey lives in
Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...
. Rousey became a
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...
after Beijing 2008, but in 2012 described her diet as "kind of a mix between a Paleo and a Warrior diet." Rousey has discussed how she struggled with her body image in the past. She explained, In January 2013, Rousey posted a video to her
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
page advocating a conspiracy theory surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which had occurred the month prior, stating in her caption that the video was "extremely interesting" and a "must-watch". After receiving criticism from the general public, Rousey deleted the video and posted another tweet saying that "asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you're told." Rousey's manager later issued a public apology for Rousey's posts surrounding the shooting. Rousey issued an apology in 2024. In 2015, Rousey raised money by auctioning signed T-shirts for the Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation. In April 2015, Rousey visited
Yerevan, Armenia Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
, for the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
. While in Yerevan, she List of visitors to Tsitsernakaberd, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide memorial. Rousey endorsed Bernie Sanders' Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2016, presidential campaign in the 2016 United States presidential election.Wilson, Chris (November 10, 2015)
"Exclusive: You'll Never Guess Who Ronda Rousey Is Backing for President"
. ''Maxim (magazine), Maxim''.


Relationships

Rousey once dated fellow UFC fighter Brendan Schaub. In August 2015, Rousey was rumored to be in a relationship with UFC fighter Travis Browne, who knocked out Schaub in a bout the previous year, after a picture of the two together appeared on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and Browne's estranged wife Jenna Renee Webb accused the two of seeing one another. Browne was at the time still married and under investigation by the UFC after Webb publicly accused him of domestic violence in July 2015. Browne confirmed he and Rousey were together in October 2015. The next day, Rousey revealed that she was dating Browne. Rousey and Browne got engaged on April 20, 2017, in New Zealand and married on August 28, 2017, in Browne's home state of Hawaii. On April 21, 2021, Rousey announced on her official YouTube channel that she was four months pregnant with her first child. On September 27, 2021, Rousey gave birth to a girl named La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō Browne. On July 25, 2024, Rousey announced that she is expecting her second child with Browne. On January 9, 2025, Rousey gave birth to second child, a girl named Liko’ula Pā’ūomahinakaipiha Browne. In her autobiography, ''My Fight / Your Fight'', Rousey wrote of an incident with a former boyfriend she dubbed "Snappers McCreepy" after she discovered that he had taken nude photos of her without her consent or knowledge, two weeks before her first fight with Miesha Tate. When a seething Rousey met him, she "slapped him across the face so hard [her] hand hurt". According to Rousey, he then refused to let her leave as he was trying to explain, so she attacked his face with two punches, one more slap, one knee, then "tossed him aside on the kitchen floor". She went to her car and he followed, grabbing the steering wheel, so she "dragged him out onto the sidewalk, and left him writhing there". Rousey deleted the photos and erased his hard drive, but fear that the pictures may still be out there influenced her to pose for ESPN The Magazine, ''ESPN'' magazine's '' Body Issue'' so that nude pictures of her would be seen on her own terms. Rousey faced criticism from some who thought she had committed domestic abuse.


Filmography


Film


Television


Championships and accomplishments


Judo

* International Judo Federation ** 2008 World Cup Senior Gold Medalist ** 2008 Belgian Ladies Open Senior Bronze Medalist ** 2007 Jigoro Kano Cup Senior Silver Medalist ** 2007 Finnish Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2007 World Judo Championships#Women, 2007 World Judo Championships Senior Silver Medalist ** 2007 German Open Senior Bronze Medalist ** Judo at the 2007 Pan American Games#Middleweight (– 70 kg), 2007 Pan American Games Senior Gold Medalist ** 2007 Pan American Judo Championships#Women's events, 2007 Pan American Championships Senior Bronze Medalist ** 2007 World Cup Senior Gold Medalist ** 2007 British Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2006 Finnish Open Senior Bronze Medalist ** 2006 Swedish Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2006 World Judo Championships Junior Bronze Medalist ** 2006 Rendez-Vous Senior Gold Medalist ** 2006 Pan American Judo Championships#Women's events, 2006 Pan American Championships Senior Silver Medalist *
2006 World Cup Senior Gold Medalist
** 2006 Belgian Ladies Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2005 Ontario Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2005 Rendez-Vous Senior Gold Medalist ** 2005 Pan American Judo Championships#Women's events, 2005 Pan American Championships Senior Gold Medalist ** 2004 Ontario Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2004 Ontario Open Junior Gold Medalist *
2004 World Judo Championships Junior Gold Medalist
** 2004 Rendez-Vous Senior Bronze Medalist ** 2004 Pan American Championships Senior Gold Medalist ** 2003 Rendez-Vous Senior Gold Medalist ** 2001 Coupe Canada Senior Cup Gold Medalist * Summer Olympic Games ** Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 70 kg#Medalists, 2008 Summer Olympics Senior Bronze Medalist * USA Judo ** USA Senior National Championship (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010) ** USA Senior Olympic Team Trials Winner (2004, 2008) ** 2007 US Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2006 US Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2006 USA Fall Classic Senior Gold Medalist ** 2006 US Open Junior Gold Medalist ** 2005 US Open Senior Gold Medalist ** 2005 US Open Junior Silver Medalist ** 2004 US Open Senior Bronze Medalist ** 2003 US Open Senior Silver Medalist ** 2003 USA Fall Classic Senior Gold Medalist ** 2002 US Open Junior Gold Medalist


Other accomplishments

*International Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2018)


Mixed martial arts

*
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...
**
UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In a ...
(UFC Hall of Fame#Modern wing, Modern Wing, Class of 2018) *** First female inductee ** UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship (One time, inaugural) *** Six successful title defenses ****List of UFC records#Longest single title reigns - By division, Most consecutive title defenses in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (6) *****Second most title defenses in UFC Women's history (6) *****Second most title fight wins in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (6) ****List of UFC records#Most Finishes - By division, Most finishes in UFC Women's Bantamweight division title fights (6) *****Longest title fight finish streak in UFC history (6) *****List of UFC records#Fastest Finishes - All fighters, Second fastest finish in a title fight in UFC history (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) *****List of UFC records#Fastest Finishes - By division, Fastest finish in a UFC Women's Bantamweight division title fight (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) **** Fastest women's title fight victory in UFC history (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) ****Tied ( Amanda Nunes) for List of UFC records#Most knockouts - By division, most knockouts in UFC Women's Bantamweight division title fights (3) *****Third List of UFC records#Fastest knockouts - All fighters, fastest knockout in a UFC title fight (0:16 vs Alexis Davis) *****List of UFC records#Fastest knockouts - By division, Fastest knockout in a UFC Women's Bantamweight division title fight (0:16 vs Alexis Davis) ****List of UFC records#Most submissions - By division, Most submissions in UFC Women's Bantamweight division title fights (3) *****List of UFC records#Fastest submissions - All fighters, Fastest submission in a UFC title fight (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) *****List of UFC records#Fastest submissions - By division, Fastest submission in a UFC Bantamweight division history title fight (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) ***** Tied ( B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes (fighter), Matt Hughes & Khabib Nurmagomedov) for third List of UFC records#Most submissions - All fighters, most submissions in UFC title fights (3) ****Second shortest time for three consecutive title defenses in UFC history (189 days) (behind Alex Pereira) *** First female UFC Champion *** First Olympic medalist to win a UFC championship ** Bonus Awards, Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Miesha Tate and Holly Holm ** Bonus Awards, Submission of the Night (One time) vs. Miesha Tate ** Performance of the Night (Four times) vs.
Cat Zingano Cat Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on Apri ...
,
Sara McMann Sara McMann (born September 24, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. She is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...
, Alexis Davis and Bethe Correia
***Tied (Mackenzie Dern) for second List of UFC bonus award recipients#Female award recipients (with three or more awards), most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Women's history (7) (behind Jéssica Andrade) ***Most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (7) **List of UFC records#Fastest Finishes - By division, Fastest finish in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) ***Second fastest finish in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (0:16 vs Alexis Davis) ***Fifth fastest finish in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (0:34 vs Bethe Correia) **List of UFC records#Fastest knockouts - By division, Fastest knockout in UFC Bantamweight division history (0:16 vs Alexis Davis) **Tied (Mayra Bueno Silva) for List of UFC records#Most submissions - By division, most submissions in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (3) ***List of UFC records#Fastest submissions - By division, Fastest submission in UFC Bantamweight division history (0:14 vs Cat Zingano) ** Most armbar finishes in UFC/WEC/Pride/Strikeforce history (9) ** Most consecutive armbar finishes in UFC/WEC/Pride/Strikeforce history (6) ** Won the first ever women's fight in UFC history **Shortest average fight time in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (3:06) **Second most finishes in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (6) **Second longest win streak in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (6) **Highest number of knockdowns per fifteen minutes in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (1.21) **Highest number of submissions per fifteen minutes in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (3.03) **UFC.com Awards *** 2013: 2013 in UFC#2013 UFC.com awards, Import of the Year, Half-Year Awards: Best Newcomer of the 1HY, 2013 in UFC#2013 UFC.com awards, Ranked #4 Submission of the Year & 2013 in UFC#2013 UFC.com awards, Ranked #9 Fight of the Year ***2014: 2014 in UFC#2014 UFC.com awards, Ranked #2 Fighter of the Year & Half-Year Awards: Best Fighter of the 1HY *** 2015: 2015 in UFC#2015 UFC.com awards, Submission of the Year *
Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...
** Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship (One time; last) *** One successful title defense ** 2x Female Submission of the Year (2011, 2012) * ''
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
'' ** 2x Best Female Athlete ESPY Award (2014, 2015) ** Best Fighter ESPY Award (2015) ** First Mixed Martial Artist to win an ESPY Award ** Submission of the Year (2012, vs. Miesha Tate on March 3) * ''MMAJunkie.com'' ** 2015 February Submission of the Month vs.
Cat Zingano Cat Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on Apri ...
** 2015 August Knockout of the Month vs. Bethe Correia * ''World MMA Awards'' ** 3x Female Fighter of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014) ** 2015 Submission of the Year vs.
Cat Zingano Cat Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on Apri ...
at UFC 184
* ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards'' ** 2x List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Best Box Office Draw, Best Box Office Draw (2014, 2015) ** 2x List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Mixed Martial Arts Most Valuable, Mixed Martial Arts Most Valuable (2014, 2015) ** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year, Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year (2014)


Professional wrestling

*''CBS Sports'' **Rookie of the Year (2018) *''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **Ranked No. 1 of the top 100 female singles wrestlers in the ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI Women's 150, PWI Women's 100'' in 2018 **List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards#Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Year (2018) **Ranked No. 3 of the top 100 female singles wrestlers in the ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI Women's 150, PWI Women's 100'' in 2019 *''Sports Illustrated'' **Ranked No. 4 of the Sports Illustrated#Women's Wrestler of the Year, top 10 women's wrestlers in 2018 * ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards'' ** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Year (2018) ** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Most Overrated, Most Overrated (2022) *
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
** WWE SmackDown Women's Championship (List of WWE SmackDown Women's Champions, 2 times) ** WWE Raw Women's Championship (List of WWE Raw Women's Champions, 1 time) **
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling Women's Tag Team Championship, women's tag team Professional wrestling, championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It is th ...
(List of WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, 1 time) – with
Shayna Baszler Shayna Andrea Baszler ( ; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and a former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she became a former List of NXT Women's Champions, two-time and lon ...
** Royal Rumble (2022), Women's Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble (2022), 2022) ** Triple Crown (professional wrestling)#List of WWE Women's Triple Crown winners, Eighth Women's Triple Crown Champion ** Slammy Award (1 time) *** "This is Awesome" Moment of the Year (Slammy Award#2015 Slammy Awards, 2015) – *** ** WWE Year-End Award *** Best Diss of the Year (WWE Year-End Award#2018 awards, 2018)


Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–2 , Amanda Nunes , TKO (punches) , UFC 207 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–1 , Holly Holm , KO (head kick and punches) ,
UFC 193 ''UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm'' was a mixed martial arts event held on November 14, 2015, at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. It was the most attended UFC event in the history of the company at the time, with 56,214 people filling the stadiu ...
, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:59 , Melbourne, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 , Bethe Correia , KO (punch) ,
UFC 190 ''UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 1, 2015, at the Jeunesse Arena, HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between former ...
, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:34 , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 ,
Cat Zingano Cat Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on Apri ...
, Submission (straight armbar) , UFC 184 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:14 ,
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Alexis Davis , KO (punches) , UFC 175 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:16 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,
Sara McMann Sara McMann (born September 24, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. She is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...
, TKO (knee to the body) , UFC 170 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:06 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Miesha Tate , Submission (armbar) ,
UFC 168 ''UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on December 28, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Middleweight Championship rematch between current champion ...
, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:58 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,
Liz Carmouche Liz Carmouche (born February 19, 1984) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently signed to the PFL. She formerly competed in Bellator MMA, where she was the last Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion. Carmouche also competed for ...
, Submission (armbar) ,
UFC 157 ''UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 23, 2013, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background The headline bout between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche w ...
, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:49 , Anaheim, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Sarah Kaufman , Submission (armbar) , Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:54 , San Diego, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Miesha Tate , Technical Submission (armbar) , Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:27 , Columbus, Ohio, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 ,
Julia Budd Julia Budd (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Kickboxing, kickboxer competing in the Featherweight (MMA), featherweight division. She was the first List of Bellator MMA champions#Women's Featherweight ...
, Submission (armbar) , 2011 in Strikeforce#Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers, Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:39 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Sarah D'Alelio , Technical Submission (armbar) , 2011 in Strikeforce#Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Duarte, Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Duarte , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Charmaine Tweet , Submission (armbar) , HKFC: School of Hard Knocks 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 , Calgary, Alberta, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ediane Gomes , Submission (armbar) , 2011 in King of the Cage#KOTC: Turning Point, KOTC: Turning Point , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 , Tarzana, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Taylor Stratford , Submission (armbar) , Tuff-N-Uff - Las Vegas vs. 10th Planet Riverside , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:24 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Autumn Richardson , Submission (armbar) , Tuff-N-Uff - Future Stars of MMA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Hayden Munoz , Submission (armbar) , CFL - Ground Zero , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:23 , Oxnard, California, United States ,


Pay-per-view bouts


Judo Olympic Games record

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:left;" , - ! Result ! style="text-align:center;", Rec. ! Opponent ! Score ! Event ! Division ! Date ! Location , - , Win , , align=center, 6–3 , , Annett Böhm , , 0010–0001 , , rowspan=6, Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympic Games , , rowspan=6 align=center, Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 70 kg, –70 kg , , rowspan=6, , , rowspan=6, Beijing , - , Win , , align=center, 5–3 , , Anett Meszaros , , , - , Win , , align=center, 4–3 , , Rachida Ouerdane , , 1001–0000 , - , Loss , , align=center, 3–3 , , Edith Bosch , , 0000–1000 , - , Win , , align=center, 3–2 , , Katarzyna Pilocik , , 1000–0000 , - , Win , , align=center, 2–2 , , Nasiba Surkieva , , 1010–0000 , - , Loss , , align=center, 1–2 , , Hong Ok-song , , 0001–0010 , , rowspan=3, Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Olympic Games , , rowspan=3 align=center, Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 63 kg, –63 kg , , rowspan=3, , , rowspan=3,
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, - , Win , , align=center, 1–1 , , Sarah Clark (judoka), Sarah Clark , , 1000–0001 , - , Loss , , align=center, 0–1 , , Claudia Heill , , 0000–0010


Bibliography

* *


See also

* List of female mixed martial artists * List of Strikeforce alumni * List of Strikeforce champions * List of UFC champions


References


External links

* * * Ronda Rousey at
Ronda Rousey
at USA Judo
Ronda Rousey
a
Judo Vision

Ronda Rousey
at MMA Quotable
Ronda Rousey
at AwakeningFighters.com * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousey, Ronda 1987 births 21st-century American actresses 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century American sportswomen Actresses from California American female judoka American film actresses American television actresses American female mixed martial artists American female professional wrestlers American people of English descent American people of Polish descent American sportspeople of Canadian descent American sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent American sportspeople of Venezuelan descent Bantamweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2007 Pan American Games Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Living people Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Mixed martial artists from California Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in judo Olympic judoka for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in judo People from Jamestown, North Dakota Professional wrestlers from California Professional wrestlers who competed in MMA Royal Rumble match winners Santa Monica High School alumni Sportspeople from Riverside, California Sportspeople from Santa Monica, California Strikeforce (mixed martial arts) champions Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters WWE Women's Champions Women's World Champions (WWE) WWE Women's Tag Team Champions