Rhonda Jean Rousey
Height 168 cm, weight 65 kg.
American MMA athlete, competes in the featherweight division. First female fighter signed by the UFC. To date, she has had 13 fights in professional sports, the last of which ended in a knockout defeat. She also wrote an autobiography that became a bestseller and is also an actress. Has the nickname "Rowdy" ("Hooligan").
Ronda's fighting style: takedown in the first 10-20 seconds of the fight and armbar.
Born in Riverside, California. Her mother Anna Maria de Mars became the first American world judo champion in 1984. When Ronda was 8 years old, her father Ron Rousey, after whom the girl was named, committed suicide due to constant back pain. Third child in the family.
Youth
She practiced judo with her mother from the age of 11 until she accidentally broke her wrist at 13. She left school at 17 to devote herself full time to preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games, becoming the youngest participant in the history of the Olympic Games. Took 9th place. In the same year, she received a gold medal at the World Junior Judo Championships. In 2008, she still managed to get bronze at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
In 2010, Rhonda decided to start a career in MMA, leaving her job as a bartender. She trained under the guidance of Gokor Chivichan Hayastan MMA Academy. Over the next three years, she mostly sparred with heavier men. Every evening it was personally prepared by Manny Gamburyan, a former MMA fighter.
Then she trained under the guidance of Edmond Tarverdyan, to whom she was recommended.
From 2011 to 2014 she studied jiu-jitsu with Henry Akins, as well as Ryron and Rener Gracie at the Gracie Academy.
At first she competed in amateur MMA competitions. None of the four fights lasted longer than a minute - Rousey won all of them with an armbar.
Strikeforce
In 2011, she fought with Edin Gomez as a professional MMA athlete. At 25 seconds the fight ended with a painful elbow hold. She also won the next two fights: with Charmaine Tweet by knockout, and Sarah D'Alelio by armbar at the beginning of the first round. However, the victory was controversial, as D'Alelio denied the submission.
In November 2011, she fought Julia Budd, again winning via armbar in the first round and dislocating her opponent's elbow.
In March 2012, she defeated Tate, becoming the new Strikeforce bantamweight champion. She defended her title against Sarah Kaufman in August 2012.
She defended her title in February 2013 at UFC 157 in the fourth minute of the first round with Liz Karmouch's favorite armbar submission. During the fight, Karmauch dislocated her opponent’s jaw.
At the end of 2013, Miesha Tate lost to Rousey at UFC 168. Over the course of two rounds, Tate managed to avoid completing an armbar and a triangle, but in the third round her luck ran out and she caught a good old armbar.
In February 2014, she competed against Olympic medalist and never-defeated Sarah McMann in the UFC 170 title fight. Rousey retained the title by technical knockout after kneeing McMann in the body. The decision to stop the fight is controversial and considered premature by sports analysts.
In her April fight against Alexis Davis, she won by knockout in the first 16 seconds of the fight. Rousey suffered a broken thumb during the fight. This victory earned Rousey the "Performance of the Night" bonus.
In late February 2015, Rousey defeated Cat Zingano with an armbar in the first 14 seconds of the fight - the shortest fight in UFC history.
Beth Koheia became Rousey's next victim in August 2015, losing by knockout in 34 seconds of the fight. Rousey dedicated the fight to the memory of Roddy “Hooligan” Piper, who had previously shared his pseudonym with Rousey. He died two days before the tournament.
Prior to her fight with Holly Holm, Ronda "Bully" Rousey had spent 1,077 seconds in the ring, riding a six-fight winning streak and earning $1 million in prize money. Her matches are, on average, the fastest in the UFC across all weight classes.
The seventh title defense was not as successful as the previous ones. Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm fought in the title fight of the UFC 193 tournament in November 2015. Holm showed excellent boxing training - Ronda missed punches to the head over and over again. And although she was the favorite of the fight, in the second round Holm knocked out Rousey with a kick to the neck, then finishing off her opponent with a series of blows. After the battle, both athletes received the Fight of the Night bonus ($50 thousand each).
Fighting style
Originally a judoka, Rousey starts with throws and sweeps, then finishes the fight with a series of strikes or armbars. In the top position he hits with a hold from the side, in the bottom position he protects his back and attacks with blows to the head. Right-handed, left-handed like a judoka and fights in a conservative striker position. The main work is done by grappling, the calling card is the armbar. In a fight with strikers, he immediately takes the fight to the ground. Physically powerful grapplers have a better chance in a confrontation. When standing, Rousey typically attacks with jabs, knees and overhand rights. Inspired by Fedor Emelianenko.
Rousey's most important titles:
1) MMA women's lightweight champion;
2) Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion;
3) UFC4 women's champion;
4) world champion in judo among juniors (among women).
Ronda Rousey is an elegant, but at the same time brutal, award-winning athlete, actress, fashion model, and author of the best-selling book “My Fight/Your Fight.” She became famous for her signature "elbow" move.
Childhood under strict discipline
Rhonda was born in early 1988. During childbirth, her mother Ann-Marie experienced complications that later affected her daughter’s development. She started talking only at 4 years old. The father loved his daughter very much; Rhonda still carefully keeps the soft Hulk toy he gave her. The girl has a sister, Maria Ortiz.
When the future athlete turned 8 years old, the head of the family hanged himself, unable to cope with severe back pain. For Rhonda, this was the hardest blow, because only he believed in her, and never tired of repeating: “You are not an idiot, you are the smartest girl in the world!”
The girl's mother, Ann-Maria, was a professional judo coach. Under her leadership, my daughter began to train and achieve success. All classes were held under strict control. Even when Rhonda broke her ankle, her mother pushed her to keep running and added more laps. Severe discipline strengthened the girl’s character, made her persistent and resilient.
Purposeful Rosie decided to take a desperate step and left her parents' home at the age of 16. She moved to Boston and began actively preparing to perform at the Olympics in Athens. The main selection criterion here was the weight of the athletes, with which the girl desperately fought. The day before the final weigh-in, she stopped drinking and eating, wrapped herself in plastic and ran for hours. But all this did not help, Rhonda became 9 out of 10 participants. There was no limit to her despair; she was most worried that her mother would not understand her.
Hard trials and first successes
After failure at the Olympic trials, Rosie again came to her mother, but she kicked her out with the words that she did not need an unemployed loser. The girl returned to her coach, who was older than her, but did not get along with him either.
Ronda Rousey at the 2008 Olympics
Then the athlete got a job in one of the bars in Los Angeles. Here she became addicted to alcohol and marijuana and continued to train at the same time. The body could not withstand such a load, and Rosie decided to radically change her lifestyle. Having come to her senses, she took up coaching.
At the beginning of 2007, Rosie performed at the World Judo Championships and took an honorable third place. In the final she lost to the Frenchwoman Gevriz Eman. Luck smiled at her at the Pan American Games, where she became the winner. The following year, Rhonda competed at the Beijing Olympics. In the fight with the German Annette Boehm she won a silver medal.
Ronda Rousey during the fight
Rosie built her further professional career in MMA. The average duration of the young athlete's fight was 30 seconds. Ronda was remembered by fans and competitors for her signature “elbow” technique, which her mother taught her. Out of 12 MMA fights, the girl won 9 brilliant victories.
Ronda Rousey is the winner of numerous awards
In the fall of 2015, there was a UFC fighting tournament, in which the invincible Holly Holm became Rousey’s opponent. Almost all bookmakers placed bets on Ronda, but her opponent’s boxing technique did not allow her to take the gold. A deep knockout from Holm sent the feisty challenger to the hospital bed.
Ronda Rousey "Best Female Fighter"
At the end of 2016, a fight took place within the UFC for the championship title, in which Rousey met with Amanda Nunnens. After 48 seconds, the fight was abandoned so that the opponent would not beat the American to death.
Ronda Rousey in the movie "The Expendables"
Rosie has significant achievements to her name: the title of “Best Fighter 2015”, as well as “Best Female Fighter” according to the Fight Only World MMA Awards. In addition to sports activities, Rhonda appears in the following films: “The Expendables 3”, “Entourage”, “Fast and Furious 7”.
Famous lovers of a strong girl
Rousey's first serious relationship was with Brandon Schaub, a professional football player. Then the guy started doing mixed martial arts. He has 5 defeats and 10 victories.
Rhonda's next chosen one was married MMA athlete Travis Brown. They met during training and just talked for a long time. Then the relationship developed into real feelings. The girl does not have hopes of an official marriage with the fighter, considering this a certain stage in her personal life.
Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne
Rosie now lives with her sister in Santa Monica. Thanks to her, Ronda’s autobiographical book was published, in which she spoke in detail about her life and professional fighting career.
Read about other foreign athletes
Rhonda Jean Rousey was born on February 1, 1987 in Riverside County, California. Her father committed suicide. Ronda Rousey's mother Anne-Marie De Mars also had a successful career in judo, becoming the first American Judo World Champion in 1984.
At seventeen, Rousey was selected to compete in the 2004 Olympics, becoming the youngest competitor in judo. In addition, in 2004 she won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Budapest.
In February 2007, she moved to the weight category up to 70 kilograms, in which she was considered one of the three strongest women in the world. She won a silver medal at the World Judo Championships in Rio de Janeiro, where in the final match she lost on points to the French judoka Gevriz Eman. And in the same year she won a gold medal at the Pan American Games.
The athlete took part in the Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008. She lost to the Dutchwoman Edith Bosch in the quarterfinals, but gained the opportunity to fight for the bronze medal, which she received by defeating the German Annette Boehm. Thus, Ronda Rousey became the first woman from the United States to win an Olympic medal in judo.
Ronda Rousey came to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) at a young age, which is remarkable: she won her first 7 fights in a total of 3-4 minutes, that is, she spent about 30 seconds on each fight. The American's debut took place in May in New Mexico, against Mexican Hayden Munoz; it took her only 23 seconds to take her to the elbow lever.
The main feature is her wrestling technique. Thanks to her mother's sports upbringing, she has a signature move - the elbow lever, which she literally learned from childhood: her mother woke her up, carefully performing the move. It was with this technique that she won most of her fights, almost always in the first round. Of her 12 wins in MMA, 9 of them were won via armbar.
On November 15, 2015, a fight night took place in the city of Melbourne under the auspices of the UFC. The culmination was the fight for the UFC bantamweight championship. Ronda Rousey met with Holly Holm, who was also undefeated, and according to plans she was supposed to defend her title for the seventh time. All bookmaker bets and expert forecasts agreed on an unconditional victory for Ronda. The fight began with the usual increased pressure on the enemy. Ronda missed a powerful blow from Holly Holm with her left hand to the jaw, received a knockdown, turned her back, fell on her hands, then, clearly knocked down, got up from her hands and immediately received a powerful high kick to the head.
Ronda Rousey received a deep knockout; assistants brought the woman to consciousness within a minute. This was the first knockout in the fighter’s career, and it was a deep knockout at once. In this regard, immediately after the fight she was taken to the clinic and a detailed tomographic scan was taken, which revealed no pathologies or serious injuries.
Ronda Rousey is not just the most famous female fighter in the world. She is the one with whom the rapid development of women's MMA began.
Base: judo. She won half of her victories using the elbow lever, for which she was nicknamed the “queen of armbars.” It was she who convinced Dana White, the president of the UFC, to introduce women's divisions.
A couple of years after her debut in the promotion in 2013, Rhonda became known even to those who do not follow mixed martial arts, she became interesting to people as a person, she was called on television, her life story was published in magazines, she even managed to star in several Hollywood films .
She managed to successfully combine all this with her MMA career and remain a dominant champion. But everything changed after meeting with Holly Holm at UFC 193. Ronda lost by a hard knockout, left the sport for a year, returned in an attempt to regain the belt that already belonged to Amanda Nunes, and was finished again, now at 48 seconds of the first round.
Currently on a two-game losing streak. It is unknown whether we will see the athlete in the octagon at least once more, or whether this is the end of her bright, but rather short career in MMA.
Biography of Ronda Rousey
Way to success
Ronda Jean Rousey is born February 1, 1987 in Santa Monica, California, USA. Her parents began to teach the girl to play sports from an early age; some time after the start of classes, she already showed good results in swimming. As a child, Rhonda experienced a serious loss - her father broke his back while sledding with his daughters, and when he learned that he would never be able to walk again and would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he committed suicide. After the tragedy, the girl quit swimming, and after a while she followed in her mother’s footsteps - she took up judo.
Hard training and determination bore fruit - after 6 years, the girl managed to get into the US Olympic team and compete at her first games in Athens in 2004. Then she failed to win a medal, but 4 years later at the Beijing Olympics, Ronda took bronze, becoming the first American woman to reach such heights in judo.
The athlete developed a passion for MMA after joint training with Manvel Gamburyan at the Gokor Chivichyan MMA Academy. Gamburyan's fight with Nate Diaz finally convinced Rousey to hang up her kimono and begin to master the art of mixed martial arts. And she took on this with all zeal, soon making her debut as an amateur, and then, having won three early victories in a row, as a professional.
There everything worked out perfectly. Victory after victory, armbar after armbar, and now Ronda gets a chance to fight Miesha Tate, the then champion of the Strikeforce organization. And she took full advantage of this chance, finishing her opponent with the same elbow lever by the end of the first round and becoming the new champion. In the same year, she will defend the title in a fight with Sarah Kaufman and will be declared the first champion of the women's division that had just been introduced into the UFC. Later, promotion president Dana White said that it was Ronda Rousey’s performances that convinced him that women who want to fight professionally according to MMA rules should not be deprived of attention.
Queen of the ball
Winning the Strikeforce title marked the beginning of the Ronda Rousey era. She continued to crush her rivals. Most defenses ended early, finishing the contenders in the first round, many of them in less than one minute. Only one girl was able to provide serious resistance - Misha Tate. And although in the end she was also defeated, she managed to at least reach the 3rd round and cause problems for the champion, which none of Ronda’s rivals had been able to do before.
Soon, Rousey's fame spread far beyond the octagon. She becomes a public figure, she is invited as a guest on television shows, she is interviewed, and filmed for fashion glossy magazines. Rhonda even made her film debut, starring in films such as Fast and Furious 6, The Expendables, and Mile 22.
Rhonda on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon 
Still from the movie "Fast and Furious 7" 
Half-naked Ronda Rousey on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine
It seemed that nothing and no one could interrupt the athlete’s winning streak. Holly Holm was definitely not considered by the public as a serious threat to Rousey's championship, however, she managed to shock the whole world...
The hour came and the carriage turned into a pumpkin
On November 14, 2015, UFC 193 took place Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm fight. From the first minutes of the first round, it became obvious that the champion was absolutely unprepared for opposition of this level, for the disciplined, confident and clearly following the game plan of Holly, who destroyed her in an amazing manner, demonstrating amazing technique and desire to win. Ronda herself said that she was on the verge of a knockout after the first exchange of blows with the challenger.
« Already in the first exchange, I missed an accurate blow, my mouth filled with blood, and everything swam before my eyes. It was like a standing knockout, I could not soberly assess not only the distance from me to Holly, I could not even say exactly how far my own hand was from my face. I am lost."
The entire first round was dictated by the challenger, only once Rousey shook Holy with a powerful hit, but she quickly pulled herself together, broke the distance and continued to dominate the champion. During the break, an absolutely confused Ronda sat in her corner and listened to the instructions of her coach, who, oddly enough, said that everything was going according to plan, that we needed to continue to apply pressure and put pressure on our opponent. After the fight, he will receive a barrage of criticism regarding the plan for the fight and the level of training of his ward.
In the second five-minute period, the champion looked even more faded, it was clear that her strength was leaving her, she missed, grabbed punches and in the end was completely knocked out with a filigree high kick. The first defeat in his career and the first deep knockout. The doctors brought her to consciousness for about a minute, and after the fight they immediately took her to the clinic for a detailed examination of the brain. Fortunately, no serious injuries were caused. Why did the seemingly passing match turn into such a nightmare? Many are of the opinion that Holly Holm is Rousey's first big test. She strictly followed a well-developed game plan and took advantage of Ronda’s vulnerabilities, while the rest of her opponents were drawn into the champion’s usual environment of working at close range and on the ground.
The same high kick that ended the Ronda Rousey era "The Return" of Ronda Rousey
Unlike physical damage, moral damage turned out to be very, very noticeable. The worst thing, according to Dana White, who communicates quite closely with Rousey outside of work, was not the fact of defeat and loss of the belt, but the fact that Ronda believed that she had lost fame and the adoration of the crowd.
« To be honest, after the fight I sat and thought that no one would need me anymore, that no one would take me seriously anymore. I even thought about suicide...", — Ronda Rousey.
For some time there were rumors that this was the end of the career of the most famous woman in MMA, that she had lost motivation forever. However, after a few months, Rhonda came to her senses and began to enjoy life again. " All I want is to be with my boyfriend Travis, have his kids, and live in our house in the woods. I don't need more.", — ex-champion said.
This may be true, but it’s hard to believe. To believe that such a strong-willed woman with a champion’s character would leave the sport without answering the remaining questions for her. Without answering not only the public, but also herself. Do I deserve to be called the face of women's MMA, can I come back after such a slap?
And she tried to give answers to these questions. But this is not an answer. The fight - the return of Ronda Rousey, which took place on December 30, 2016 at the UFC 207 tournament in Las Vegas, was stopped after 48 seconds due to the American’s inability to defend herself. She took 27 hits in such a short period of time, most of them to the head. It looked creepy. Thanks to referee Herb Dean for his timely stop, thanks to whom Ronda was able to leave the cage on her own and avoid serious damage.
Where has the invincible Ronda Rousey gone, who introduced women's MMA to the world? Why was the fall so rapid? There can be many reasons: the increased level of rivals, poor work on the part of the coach, lack of motivation after the first defeat. Whatever the answer, one thing is for sure: Ronda Rousey forever inscribed her name in the history of sports, becoming one of those through whom more than one million people around the world learned about this great sport.
Physical data:
Height - 170 cm;
Weight - 65 kg;
Arm span - 168 cm.
Battle statistics: 10 fights – 10 victories – 0 defeats.
Fighting style: judo, boxing.
Debut in mixed martial arts: March 2011.
Trophies and achievements:
· Bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in judo - 2008;
· UFC champion;
· Strikeforce champion.
Fighting technique. unexpectedly and rapidly burst into the world of MMA, where she impressed me with her mature tactical training beyond her years and excellent mastery of wrestling techniques and painful holds. It is worth noting that Rhonda has been a unique figure since her youth, becoming the youngest participant in the Olympic Games in judo. Already in her youth, many considered her one of the strongest women in judo, which she proved in numerous competitions. Having switched to MMA, Ronda did not look for new ways of development and began to hone her judo and striking boxing techniques. Ronda Rousey is also unique in that at her age she can masterfully apply the elbow lever, which she used to finish most of her fights. The elbow lever in her execution is perfect - Rhonda has been honing the technique of this technique all her life. This is following the commandments of Bruce Lee, who said: “I am not afraid of the one who masters a large number of blows - I am afraid of the one who hones one blow to perfection!” Ronda Rousey is always ready to knock down the arrogance of her opponents in the ring with an elbow lever.
Career development. After numerous victories at international judo competitions and a great Olympics, Ronda Rousey decided to try herself in the UFC octagon, where she could fight with the strongest opponents in mixed martial arts.
Rousey's start in MMA turned out to be simply crazy - the American defeated her first four opponents with an elbow lever no later than 50 seconds after the start of the fight. Thus, she received the right to fight for the champion title in Strikeforce, where Rousey confidently dealt with Miesha Tate, although she spent more than four minutes of time on this victory. After successfully defending against Sarah Kaufman, Rousey, like most fighters, began to perform under the auspices of the UFC, which absorbed the Strikeforce organization.
The UFC title was not in the wrong hands for long; it was quickly taken by the magnificent Ronda Rousey, who won four confident victories over her rivals and is rightfully considered the strongest female MMA fighter outside the fighting weight categories. In addition, Ronda's last two victories were knockouts, which suggests that working with boxing coaches is making itself felt. The ability to learn and progress has made Ronda Rousey a great athlete who, so far, has not met worthy resistance in the ring.
In addition to performing in MMA, Ronda Rousey is actively acting in Hollywood, being a promising actress. Thus, the popularity of MMA among American women is growing, largely thanks to the activities of the current UFC champion in the featherweight category.
