When Ronda Rousey became the first American to win an Olympic medal in Women’s Judo, where she bagged a bronze medal at Beijing in 2008, no one had yet predicted her success in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
She dominated the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s division between 2012 and 2015, enjoying a three-year title reign as the inaugural UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, and entered WWE in 2018 becoming only the second person to transfer from the MMA brand to the sports entertainment franchise.
Who is Ronda Rousey, how old is she, when is her birthday, how tall is she and what is her background?
Now 31 years old, Rousey was born on February 1, 1987. She stands at 1.73 metres tall and her physique is perfectly suited for close combat sports, complementing her intense mindset. Her background is in judo, having started training in the discipline at age 11.
What is Ronda Rousey famous for and what is her occupation?
Put simply; fighting. For the majority of her time in MMA, she dominated the sport, becoming famous for making opponents submit within 30 seconds of the first round in many of her matches. Upon joining UFC in 2012 she went on a famous three-year undefeated streak before a shock KO defeat to Holly Holm in November 2015.
Rousey also had a notable film role in Furious 7 and appeared on TV series Entourage, both in mid-2015 at the peak of her popularity. In 2018, the champion fighter entered WWE, and joined with Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H at WrestleMania 34 in a mixed-gender tag-team match.
What is Ronda Rousey’s net worth?
Ronda Rousey is reportedly worth around $12 million, earned mostly through her time as UFC’s biggest female draw and frequent main event status. Her image and reputation has helped her to gain lucrative opportunities outside of the sport, including a sponsorship with Reebok.
Where is Ronda Rousey from?
Rousey was born in Riverside, California. She is the daughter of former World Judo Champion AnnMaria De Mars, who was the first American to win a gold junior medal at the 1984 World Judo Championships. She was raised between Southern California and North Dakota, where her family moved when she was three. At that time she struggled with speech and required speech therapy.
How much does Ronda Rousey weigh?
Her current billed weight is 135 pounds or 61kg, which she dropped to in 2012 from her previous weight of 145 pounds to challenge for the Women’s Bantamweight Title.
What and when were Ronda Rousey’s most famous fights, and how much did she make from each of them, did she win?
Since making her amateur MMA debut in August 2010, Rousey has been involved in a number of high-profile fights. Following a period of dominance in the Strikeforce promotion upon turning professional, she competed in her first main event against Miesha Tate in March 2012. Here, she won the Women’s Bantamweight title, taking home $32,000 in earnings.
Media hype surrounding this fight gained UFC’s attention, which Rousey joined in November 2012, main event status in-tow. In her first fight she faced Liz Carmouche, in February 2013 at UFC 157, again ending in a first-round win. She took home $90,000 in earnings. This was the first women’s fight in UFC. She would have a highly-anticipated rematch with Tate at UFC 168, for which she earned $100,000. Again, Rousey won with her signature armbar submission, and with the match going to the third round for the first time in her career.
At UFC 184 in February 2015, Rousey was involved in the shortest fight in UFC history, making Cat Zingano submit to her signature armbar in only 14 seconds. For the 14 seconds of work she earned $130,000 from the fight, working out at just over $9,000 per second.
Later that year, Rousey’s fight would make headlines for the wrong reasons. Holly Holm beat her at UFC 193 in November with a shock KO victory early in the second round. This was regarded as one of the biggest upsets in sporting history. Despite the defeat, Rousey earned $165,000 on the night.
Who are Ronda Rousey’s most famous rivals?
Rousey began a rivalry with Miesha Tate during their stint in Strikeforce. Tate proved in their first fight that she was at least partly capable of matching Rousey and a rematch always looked to be on the cards.
Media and press attention in the lead-up to the first fight is credited with bringing women to the UFC. It also raised the profile of female fighters in general. At their rematch the following year, Tate would become the first fighter to take Rousey past the first two rounds, succumbing to armbar submission in the third.
How much does Ronda Rousey earn?
For most professional fights in her career Rousey has earned at least $100,000 per fight. On her return at UFC 207, December 2016, more than a year on from her shock defeat, she earned more than $3 million despite a TKO defeat in just 48 seconds against Amanda Nunes. Shockingly, $3 million was merely her appearance fee for the event.
Does Ronda Rousey have a boyfriend, who has she dated in the past, is she married?
Rousey married fellow UFC competitor Travis Browne in August 2017; they have been together since 2015.
Did Ronda Rousey retire?
Not officially, though her UFC/MMA future appears to be in doubt, with no word on her next fight following December 2016’s defeat against Nunes. Having signed a long-term contract extension in mid-2015, though, she is still tied to the company.
Speculation was rife that she would have a role at WrestleMania 34 in March 2018, having appeared at the event in 2015 with UFC’s permission, and the rumours were true with Rousey’s debut at the flagship event.
What did Ronda Rousey compete in during the Olympics, what medals did she win, what Olympics did she compete in?
At just 17 she qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the youngest judoka to compete at the entire games. Also in 2004, she won gold at the World Junior Judo Championships in Hungary, following this up two years later (in 2006) with a bronze. And, in the process she became the first US athlete to win two Junior World medals. After winning bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she retired from the sport at 21.
