Rousey has been credited for breaking down several hurdles regarding female mixed martial arts sports, as well as challenging barriers regarding body image and female conformity
She was born February 1, 1987, who is an American professional wrestler, actress, author, mixed martial artist, and judoka.
She is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand, where she is the current Raw Women’s Champion in her first reign. Her longstanding nickname, “Rowdy”, was inherited from late professional wrestler Roddy Piper.
Rousey began her professional career as a mixed martial artist in 2010, after becoming the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo, by winning bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
After a string of successful bouts in both King of the Cage and Strike force, which included a reign as the last ever Strike force Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Rousey signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2012.
In UFC, Rousey enjoyed a two and a half year undefeated streak, during which she became the first female champion in the promotion’s history, and holds the record as the longest ever reigning UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Rousey also gained plaudits for her explosive and dominant fighting style, characterized by first-round knockouts and trademark armbar submission hold.
She later became the first female fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.[18]
In 2018, Rousey began a career in professional wrestling, signing a contract with WWE.
She made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 and won the Raw Women’s Championship, her first WWE and professional wrestling title, at SummerSlam 2018.
Rousey has also enjoyed success as an actress and author, appearing in the films The Expendables 3 (2014), Furious 7 (2015), and Mile 22 (2018), and releasing her autobiography My Fight / Your Fight in 2015.
She has been regarded as a symbol of female empowerment,[26] and has been praised for her involvement in the polarizing female mixed martial arts industry, in which she became one of the highest pay-per-view draws in the world.
Rousey was described by Fox Sports as “one of the defining athletes of the 21st century.”
How She Became a Living Legend
Ronda Rousey did not grow up with dreams of becoming the women’s bantamweight champion. When she was young, that title was not even an option for women.
Her childhood, however, did set the tone for her later drug abuse in many ways. Her father committed suicide when she was young, a fact which she mentions alongside her drug abuse in a preview interview for her fight against Correia.
It was only a few years after her father’s suicide that Ronda Rousey began learning the art of judo.
Unsurprisingly, she was as skilled at judo as she now is at MMA. Think her fast UFC wins are impressive?
At UFC 184, she beat Cat Zingano in only 14 seconds, twenty seconds less than it took her to triumph over Bethe Correia but in 2004, when she was only 17 years old, she won a judo match at the World Junior Championships in Budapest in just 4 seconds.
She also became the youngest fighter to compete in the Athens Olympics that year. And that was not the last time that Ronda Rousey would enter the Olympics.
In 2008, she went to Beijing and took home a bronze medal, she then decided to retire from judo and begin pursuing an MMA career instead.
One may wonder how long it takes to transition from judo to mixed martial arts. This answer may vary.
If you’re Ronda Rousey, however, it apparently does not take very long. It only took her 23 seconds to win her amateur debut against Hayden Munoz in 2010.
She did so with an armbar, which became her signature finishing move for her next two fights. At the Tuff-N-Uff quarterfinals that year, this same move saw her triumph within 57 seconds against seasoned opponent Autumn Richardson.
She then moved on to the semifinals, winning again with an armbar against Taylor Stratford in just 24 seconds.
Confident in her abilities, she quit the amateur tournament to advance her professional career.
Fighting at the professional level did not slow her down; Ronda Rousey quickly began to establish herself as a dominant fighter, winning her first two professional matches in 25 seconds against Ediane Gomes and in 49 seconds against kickboxing champion Charmaine Tweet.
At this point, she had won every match of her MMA career with an armbar. Her strategy was clear, but her opponents simply couldn’t seem to get the better of her.
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
The story of Ronda Rousey and her recovery is an inspiring one, not just because she made the choice to improve her life but because of everything she has achieved since making that choice make in 2010.
She is the epitome of a strong woman, which is something she credits to her mother. She states: “In our family, we were always told that we were meant to be something extraordinary.
It’s not your job to maintain a home and have kids. You’re supposed to do that. It’s your job to leave the world better than how you found it. Everything I am I owe to my mother.”
Despite her battles with self-esteem and body issues, Ronda Rousey has learned from her experiences and is becoming a positive role model for women who struggle with body image.
While it’s true that she can sometimes be abrasive due to a tendency to openly speak her mind, it at least shows that she is no longer the kind of woman who winds up in unhealthy relationships because she doesn’t feel she deserves any better.
She’s faced issues that are common amongst many women who suffer from addiction, and she has decided that she will no longer fall prey to those issues anymore.
Some may think that Ronda Rousey is outspoken, but she is not completely devoid of humility. In fact, while many may consider her a role model, she does not prefer to use this label herself. She simply wants to be the best person she can be for her family, as well as for herself.
She recognizes that the way people perceive her is completely out of her control. This humility and willingness to accept her lack of control over others do not simply speak well for her character; these qualities are essential attributes that every recovering addict must strive to attain.
The death of her father still affects Ronda Rousey to this day. But she no longer falls prey to crippling depression. She has found a new passion through MMA, and it has allowed her to soar to greater heights than ever before. Rousey has learned from her prior mistakes, and every victory spurs her to try and achieve more and more.
No one can be perfect, but that does not mean that they should ever stop aspiring to be the best that they can be.
This is especially true of addicts, who must never give in and allow complacency to rule their lives.
They must learn to be content, but they must also develop a desire to overcome their character defects and allow recovery to launch them into a new life.
This is the greatest lesson that we can learn from Ronda Rousey. In order to recover from addiction, whether substance-related or not, the addict must learn how to find purpose in life.
Rousey decided that her purpose was to be the first and greatest female fighter in the sport of mixed martial arts.
She did this not only because she felt that she had the requisite skills, but because she learned during her first fight that MMA made her truly happy.
Happiness was a choice that Ronda Rousey had to learn to make for her by making that same choice; you can learn to lead a fulfilling and empowering life of recovery.
