Ronda Rousey Biography

American professional wrestler, judoka, and mixed martial artist

Professional wrestling careerRing name(s)Ronda RouseyBilled height5:ft 7:in (170:cm)Billed weight134:lb (61:kg)Trained byBrian Kendrick
Goldust
Kurt Angle
Natalya
WWE Performance CenterDebutApril 8, 2018

Ronda Jean Rousey (/ˈraʊzi/; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her tenure in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE.

She was the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo by winning bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Rousey began her mixed martial arts (MMA) career with King of the Cage in 2011. She soon joined Strikeforce, becoming their last Women's Bantamweight Champion until its acquisition by UFC. Rousey was part of the company's first female fight at UFC 157, was their inaugural Women's Bantamweight Champion, and held the record for most UFC *le defenses (6) by a female, until being surp*ed by Valentina Shevchenko in 2022. Rousey retired from MMA in 2016 and was the first female fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.

Rousey began a career in professional wrestling in 2018, signing with WWE, and debuted at WrestleMania 34. She won the Raw Women's Championship at that year's SummerSlam, and headlined WWE's only all-women's pay-per-view Evolution, in which she defended the *le. Rousey lost the *le 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, 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 with Shayna Baszler. 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.

Rousey is the only woman to be the 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 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 (2015), and Mile 22 (2018), and published her autobiography My Fight / Your Fight in 2015.

Early life

Ronda Jean Rousey was born in Riverside, California on February 1, 1987, the youngest of three daughters of AnnMaria De Mars (née Waddell) and Ronald John Rousey, after whom she was named. Her mother, a decorated judoka, was the first American to win a World Judo Championship (in 1984, as AnnMaria Burns). Rousey is of English, Trinidadian, Venezuelan and Canadian ancestry. One of her maternal great-grandfathers, Alfred E. 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, Venezuela. Her stepfather is an aerospace engineer. 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 in educational psychology at the University of California, Riverside 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, 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, to obtain intensive speech therapy with specialists at Minot State University. Rousey dropped out of high school and later earned her GED. She was raised between Jamestown and Southern California, 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 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. 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.

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. 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 and the silver medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships.

In August 2008, Rousey competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She lost her quarterfinal to the Dutch ex-world champion Edith Bosch but qualified for a bronze medal match through the repechage bracket. Rousey defeated Annett Boehm by Yuko to win a bronze medal (Judo offers two bronze medals per weight cl*). 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 compe*ion 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 *tail 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 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 *anese 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 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, Rousey trained under the Romanian American 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 compe*ion, 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, Canada. She submitted Tweet with an armbar in 49 seconds.

Strikeforce (2011–2012)

Early success

Rousey was scheduled to make her Strikeforce debut against Sarah D'Alelio on July 30, 2011, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The fight was postponed and eventually took place on the Strikeforce Challengers 18 main card on August 12, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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 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, 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 *le 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 *le 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, 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 wanted to fight her, it would have to take place at bantamweight.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (2012–2016)

First female UFC Champion

Rousey in 2012

In November 2012, the Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. After meeting Piper (circa 2012 or 2013) through Gene LeBell, who helped train both of them, Piper personally gave his approval.

Rousey defended her *le against Liz Carmouche on February 23, 2013, at UFC 157. Despite being caught in an early standing neck crank attempt from Carmouche, Rousey went on to successfully defend her Bantamweight Championship *le, 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.

After Cat Zingano defeated Miesha Tate at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Finale, Dana White announced that Zingano would be a coach of The Ultimate Fighter 18 against Rousey. On May 28, Zingano having suffered a knee injury, it was announced Miesha Tate would coach The Ultimate Fighter 18 against Rousey.

Rousey faced Miesha Tate, in a rematch from Strikeforce, at UFC 168 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

It was announced at the UFC 168 post-fight press conference that Rousey would defend the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship against fellow Olympic medalist and undefeated fighter Sara McMann 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.

On April 11, 2014, it was announced that Rousey would defend 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 was scheduled to take place at UFC 182 for the women's bantamweight *le. However, the fight was moved to February 28, 2015, at UFC 184. Rousey defeated Zingano with an armbar in 14 seconds, the shortest match in UFC championship history until Conor McGregor defeated José Aldo in 13 seconds 11 months later.

Rousey fought Bethe Correia on August 1, 2015, in Brazil, at UFC 190, 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.

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 ac*ulated $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 cl*, the fastest of which was the Heavyweight division with a time of 7 minutes and 59 seconds.

*le loss and subsequent retirement

In her seventh *le defense, Rousey faced Holly Holm in the main event at UFC 193 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 head kick in round two, losing her *le 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, Rousey stated that she considered suicide in the immediate aftermath of her head kick KO defeat to Holm.

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

While some fighters strike an imp*ive pose … Rousey is nothing if not expressive. She smiles often, squinting so tightly that her eyes disappear. She cries easily, a girlhood habit she never outgrew. And before each fight, she glares at her opponent as if she were getting ready to put a permanent end to a lifelong feud. After the fight, she is all smiles again, and usually unblemished.

- The New Yorker, 2014

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 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. 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 compe*ive 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 jabs, 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 fan. She, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir have dubbed themselves "The Four Horsewomen," a play on The Four Hor* professional wrestling stable, with the blessing of members Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

WWE

Sporadic appearances and signing (2014–2017)

Rousey with The Rock at WrestleMania 31

The Four Horsewomen were acknowledged on camera and commentary as such, in the front row at WWE's SummerSlam event on August 17, 2014. The group also went backstage during the event, meeting Paul Heyman, among others. Rousey was interviewed by WWE.com that night; when asked if she, like Brock Lesnar, would cross over to wrestling, she replied: "You never know".

At WrestleMania 31 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 and Triple H), 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 Cl*ic 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, Becky Lynch, and Bayley, who, in WWE together with Sasha Banks, were also known as the Four Horsewomen, hinting at a possible future feud 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 in Orlando, Florida. She also trained under Brian Kendrick at his wrestling school.

Raw Women's Champion (2018–2019)

Rousey at WrestleMania 34 with Kurt Angle (also her WWE debut match)

Rousey made a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, confronting Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, and Asuka, who had just won the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match. ESPN 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 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.

On the March 5 episode of Raw, it was announced that Rousey would make her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34, WWE's flagship event, in a mixed tag team match pitting Rousey and Kurt Angle 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 calling it the greatest debut ever. The Washington Post noted the positive fan reaction, stating "The match exceeded expectations, with fans firmly behind Rousey" and " surprised high-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, and it was announced that Rousey would get her first opportunity 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, who attacked both Rousey and Jax and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract (which she won earlier that night) to win the *le instead. For her first singles match and *le opportunity, she was once again praised by fans and critics for her performance, with CNET stating "For the first time, biggest 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 in WWE with Alexa Bliss over the *le, which included a suspension (again in kayfabe) after Rousey attacked Bliss, [Kurt Angle, and multiple officials. After honoring her suspension from in-ring compe*ion, Rousey received a Raw Women's Championship match by Raw general manager Kurt Angle against Bliss at SummerSlam. At the event on August 19, Rousey squashed Bliss to win the *le, 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, Rousey once again submitted Bliss to retain the *le.

Throughout her championship reign, Rousey went on to fend off *le contenders such as Nikki Bella (in the main event of the first all women's pay-per-view Evolution on October 28), Mickie James, Nia Jax, Natalya, and Sasha Banks. Rousey was supposed to face Becky Lynch at the Survivor Series 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 *le 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 *le match at WrestleMania 35. On the February 11 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon 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 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 *le 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 for Rousey's Raw and Flair's SmackDown Women's Championships, Lynch controversially pinned Rousey to win both *les. 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 surp* Rousey's.

SmackDown Women's Champion (2022)

On January 29, 2022, at the Royal Rumble, Rousey returned to WWE as a face, entering at #28 in the Women's Royal Rumble match and eliminating Brie Bella, Nikki A.S.H, and Shotzi. She won by last eliminating Charlotte Flair, thus earning a championship match at WrestleMania 38. 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. At Elimination Chamber 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 *le, 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 *le.

On the May 13 episode of SmackDown, she retained her *le against Raquel Rodriguez in an open challenge. At Money in the Bank on July 2, Rousey retained her *le 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. On the following episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Rousey would challenge Morgan for the *le at SummerSlam. 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 *le, 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 *le against the returning Emma in an open challenge. At Survivor Series: WarGames on November 26, Rousey retained her *le against Shotzi with help from Shayna Baszler. On the December 30 episode of SmackDown, Rousey retained her *le against Raquel Rodriguez. After the match, Rousey was confronted by the returning Charlotte Flair, who challenged Rousey to an impromptu *le match, which she accepted. Rousey ended up losing the *le 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; 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 *le to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez when Baszler turned on her, ending their reign at 32 days. Rousey lost to Baszler at SummerSlam 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 critiziced her time in WWE and Vince McMahon. She also pointed that she retired due the amount of concussions she had during her time as MMA fighter.

Independent circuit (2023–present)

On October 26, 2023, Rousey came out of retirement, teaming with Marina Shafir to defeat her trainer Brian Kendrick and Taya Valkyrie at a Lucha VaVoom event.

It was then announced on October 28, 2023, by the Wrestling Revolver social media page that Rousey would be making her Wrestling Revolver debut on November 16, 2023, at their event *led UNREAL in Los Angeles, California. At the event, she teamed with Shafir and faced the team of Athena and Billie Starkz which ended in a no contest. The following night during the Honor Club TV tapings on November 17, Rousey made her Ring of Honor (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.

Films and television

Rousey (center, middle row) alongside other actors at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival

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, and played herself in the film Entourage.

In October 2015, Rousey became the first female athlete to guest host ESPN's SportsCenter.

Rousey hosted the January 23, 2016, episode of the late-night variety show Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Selena Gomez.

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., the Peter Berg-directed action film Mile 22. Rousey was scheduled to star in a remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze 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, to ask for her blessing, which Niemi gave. 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 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 so much 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). She previously appeared in EA Sports UFC, 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. 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

Rousey posing with a United States Air Force Thunderbirds plane with her name on it in November 2012

As of 2023, Rousey lives in Venice, California.

Rousey became a vegan after Beijing 2008, but in 2012 described her diet as "kind of a mix between a Paleo and a Warrior diet", trying to eat everything.

Rousey has discussed how she struggled with her body image in the past. She explained,

When I was in school, martial arts made you a dork, and I became self-conscious that I was too masculine. I was a 16-year-old girl with ringworm and cauliflower ears. People made fun of my arms and called me "Miss Man". It wasn't until I got older that I realized: these people are idiots. I'm fabulous.

In 2015, she raised money by auctioning signed T-shirts for the Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation.

In April 2015, Rousey visited Yerevan, Armenia, for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. While in Yerevan, she visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide memorial.

Rousey endorsed Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in the 2016 United States presidential election.

In February 2016, in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Rousey said that suicidal thoughts went through her mind in the aftermath of her knockout loss to Holly Holm in November 2015.

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 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.

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 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 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 Senior Silver Medalist
    • 2007 German Open Senior Bronze Medalist
    • 2007 Pan American Games Senior Gold Medalist
    • 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 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 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
    • 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 Cl*ic 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 Cl*ic Senior Gold Medalist
    • 2002 US Open Junior Gold Medalist

Other accomplishments

  • International Sports Hall of Fame (Cl* of 2018)

Mixed martial arts

  • Ultimate Fighting Championship
    • UFC Hall of Fame (Modern Wing, Cl* of 2018)
      • First female inductee
    • UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship (One time, inaugural)
      • Six successful *le defenses
        • Most consecutive *le defenses in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (6)
        • Most finishes in UFC Women's Bantamweight division *le fights (6)
        • Fastest women's *le fight victory in UFC history (0:14 vs Cat Zingano)
        • Longest *le fight finish streak in UFC history (6)
        • Second fastest finish in a *le fight in UFC history (0:14 vs Cat Zingano)
        • Fastest finish in a UFC Women's Bantamweight division *le fight (0:14 vs Cat Zingano)
        • Tied (Amanda Nunes) for most knockouts in UFC Women's Bantamweight division *le fights (3)
        • Third fastest knockout in a UFC *le fight (0:16 vs Alexis Davis)
        • Fastest knockout in a UFC Women's Bantamweight division *le fight (0:16 vs Alexis Davis)
        • Most submissions in UFC Women's Bantamweight division *le fights (3)
        • Fastest submission in a UFC *le fight (0:14 vs Cat Zingano)
        • Fastest submission in a UFC Bantamweight division history *le fight (0:14 vs Cat Zingano)
        • Second most *le defenses in UFC Women's history (6)
        • Second most *le fight wins in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (6)
        • Tied (B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes & Khabib Nurmagomedov) for third most submissions in UFC *le fights (3)
    • Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Miesha Tate and Holly Holm
    • Submission of the Night (One time) vs. Miesha Tate
      • 2015 Submission of the Year vs. Cat Zingano
    • Performance of the Night (Four times) vs. Cat Zingano, Sara McMann, Alexis Davis, and Bethe Correia
      • Second most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Women's history (7)
      • Most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (7)
      • Tied (Amanda Nunes) for the second most Performance of the Night bonuses in UFC Women's history (5)
    • First female UFC Champion
    • First Olympic medalist to win a UFC championship
    • 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)
    • Fastest knockout in UFC Bamtamweight division history (0:16 vs Alexis Davis)
    • Tied (Mayra Bueno Silva) for most submissions in UFC Women's Bantamweight division history (3)
      • 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 (8)
    • 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)
    • 2014 Half-Year Awards: Best Fighter of the 1HY
    • 2013 Import of the Year
    • 2013 Half-Year Awards: Best Newcomer of the 1HY
  • Strikeforce
    • Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship (One time; last)
      • One successful *le defense
    • 2x Female Submission of the Year (2011, 2012)
  • ESPN
    • 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
    • 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 at UFC 184
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
    • 2x Best Box Office Draw (2014, 2015)
    • 2x Mixed Martial Arts Most Valuable (2014, 2015)
    • 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 PWI Women's 100 in 2018
    • Rookie of the Year (2018)
  • Sports Illustrated
    • Ranked No. 4 of the top 10 women's wrestlers in 2018
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
    • Rookie of the Year (2018)
    • Most Overrated (2022)
  • WWE
    • WWE SmackDown Women's Championship (2 times)
    • WWE Raw Women's Championship (1 time)
    • WWE Women's Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shayna Baszler
    • Women's Royal Rumble (2022)
    • Eighth Women's Triple Crown Champion
    • Slammy Award (1 time)
      • "This is Awesome" Moment of the Year (2015) – with The Rock
    • WWE Year-End Award
      • Best Diss of the Year (2018)

Mixed martial arts record

Pay-per-view bouts

Judo Olympic Games record

Bibliography

  • Rousey, Ronda; with Maria Burns Ortiz (2015). My Fight/Your Fight. New York: Regan Arts. ISBN:978-1-941-39326-0. OCLC:892041615.
  • Rousey, Ronda; with Maria Burns Ortiz (2024). Our Fight. New York: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN:978-1-538-75737-6. OCLC:1411309691.

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 Wikipedia's sister projects
    • Media from Commons
    • Quotations from Wikiquote
    • Data from Wikidata
    • Official website
    • Ronda Rousey at IMDb:
    • Ronda Rousey at The time allocated for running scripts has expired.
    • Ronda Rousey The time allocated for running scripts has expired. at USA Judo
    • Ronda Rousey at Judo Vision
    • Ronda Rousey The time allocated for running scripts has expired. at MMA Quotable
    • Ronda Rousey at AwakeningFighters.com
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