Tag: Ronda Rousey

UFC’s Ronda Rousey, Arianny Celeste Sell Their Bras on eBay for Charity

Most charity organizations fighting against breast cancer usually sponsor events like marathons and local rallies. However, female MMA fighters have taken a more unique approach.MMA Underground reports that charity group “MZ & Emmers” has part…

Most charity organizations fighting against breast cancer usually sponsor events like marathons and local rallies. However, female MMA fighters have taken a more unique approach.

MMA Underground reports that charity group “MZ & Emmers” has partnered with The Keep A Breast Foundation to host an auction selling sports bras worn by women in the MMA community.

‘Not just any bras, mind you, but collector’s items worn and signed by the likes of UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste and several female mixed martial artists from various promotions.

As highlighted on the fundraiser’s eBay listing, each sports bra comes with an autograph (some with a photo as well). For added ease of use, there’s also a searchable index to help bidders seek out certain items.

If you’re looking for sportswear from a specific athlete, Keep A Breast also has a partial list of participants.

As noted by MiddleEasy, Invicta FC 4 headliner Bec Hyatt is leading the fundraiser with a $325 bid on her custom sports bra, followed by UFC women’s champion Ronda Rousey at a $132 bid.

Here’s the five fighters whose sportswear have received the highest bidding prices (noted at 5:00 p.m. ET):

• Bec “Rowdy” Hyatt – $325
• Ronda Rousey – $132
• Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig – $107
• Maureen “Baby Face” Riordan – $103
• Arianny Celeste – $79

Browsing through the list, donations have also been made by UFC 157 co-headliner Liz Carmouche, as well as top-ranked Bellator flyweight Jessica Eye, who recently defeated strawweight champion Zoila Frausto Gurgel last December at Bellator 83. Bidding ends on Jan. 6 (three days), with no returns allowed on delivery.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 157: What Will Happen to WMMA If Ronda Rousey Isn’t a Draw?

With the recent report (via MMAmania.com) that UFC 157 has sold less than 5,000 tickets, we are forced to wonder if the UFC audience is going to be receptive to the most dangerous women alive taking center stage.Granted, UFC 157 doesn’t take place unti…

With the recent report (via MMAmania.com) that UFC 157 has sold less than 5,000 tickets, we are forced to wonder if the UFC audience is going to be receptive to the most dangerous women alive taking center stage.

Granted, UFC 157 doesn’t take place until February 23. However, with more than 18,000 available seats at the Honda Center, it is safe to say that tickets are selling slower than Zuffa had hoped.

Dana White and Co. are taking a huge leap of faith by booking Rousey versus Carmouche as a Pay-Per-View main event. After all, the female side of mixed martial arts is as unproven a commodity as they come.

Some may point to Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg in support of Rousey’s top billing.

After all, there were two other title fights on the card, yet the females took the spotlight at the exciting event.

However, let’s keep in mind a few variables that the event had on its side that UFC 157 does not.

Most importantly, Rousey’s headlining fight will have a $55 price tag attached, while Carano’s time on top was aired for free to Showtime subscribers.

In the source article, Dave Meltzer talks about how this event is selling faster than UFC 133 and UFC 150, however, both of those events were considered to be failures on PPV, with the former selling 310,000 with Rashad Evans in the main event and the latter generating less than 200,000 buys.

Regardless of what fans may think of the main event, UFC 157 provides a solid card for pay-per-view. The co-main event is occupied by a title eliminator between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida.

Also, Josh Koscheck welcomes Robbie Lawler back into the UFC in a welterweight battle, and former WEC champion Urijah Faber is also on the card.

In the event that Rousey’s time in the spotlight generates disappointing numbers, it is hard to imagine that the UFC president will continue showcasing the females who are now signed to Zuffa contracts. 

Perhaps the ladies will be moved onto Fox broadcasts.

After all, that’s what happened to Benson Henderson and Demetrious Johnson after the UFC realized that they weren’t capable of carrying a PPV on their own.

In any case, Rousey has taken some major steps towards getting WMMA accepted by the MMA community. If she fails to draw quality numbers for the UFC, it isn’t the end of the world, but corrective measures will need to be taken quickly in order to make sure that the ship doesn’t sink.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 157: Five Ways Ronda Rousey’s Debut Could Be a Total Failure

Although UFC 157 will be a historic night for mixed martial arts, there’s no avoiding the fact that it could also be a death knell for the careers of many female fighters.Despite the best efforts of Ronda Rousey and the UFC, the women’s bantamweight ch…

Although UFC 157 will be a historic night for mixed martial arts, there’s no avoiding the fact that it could also be a death knell for the careers of many female fighters.

Despite the best efforts of Ronda Rousey and the UFC, the women’s bantamweight champion’s debut is being built on a house of cards.

So far, only a small handful of women have officially been signed to the UFC.

President Dana White, for his part, doesn’t seem too committed to women’s MMA one way or the other, constantly claiming that he’s testing the waters. So, what happens if everything goes south and the event is a total bust?

How could that even happen?

Well, there’s more than a few ways Rousey’s debut could flame out before it ever heats up. If any of these five circumstances comes to pass, UFC fans might be saying “so long” to Rousey and the women’s division before the year is even over.

Begin Slideshow

Report: Fewer Than 5,000 Tickets Sold for Ronda Rousey’s UFC Debut at UFC 157

UFC 157—an event meant to showcase the first-ever female UFC champion Ronda Rousey—has sold fewer than 5,000 tickets, according to a report by Dave Meltzer of MMAfighting.com.Rousey can’t armbar fans into parting with their cash, …

UFC 157—an event meant to showcase the first-ever female UFC champion Ronda Rousey—has sold fewer than 5,000 tickets, according to a report by Dave Meltzer of MMAfighting.com.

Rousey can’t armbar fans into parting with their cash, or so it seems. 

Meltzer elaborated the situation: 

The location, the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., was also a risk. While Rousey is from Southern California, the Los Angeles/Anaheim market has never been an easy one after the immediate sellout of the company’s debut show there in 2006. Generally speaking, the more a city is run, outside of Las Vegas which is a strong casino market, the harder it is to sell tickets.

While the 2010 Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez heavyweight title fight at the Honda Center got off to a strong start even that wasn’t an instant sellout. But most shows at the Honda Center or Staples Center in Los Angeles have in recent years done more in the range of 6,000 to 7,000 tickets over he first week of sales.

Meltzer also noted that UFC 157’s numbers displayed “slower early sales than most major UFC pay-per-view shows.”

But despite such dolorous tidings, Meltzer also pointed out that it was too early to sound the alarms. “The Southern California market has done strong walk-up business in the past,” he wrote. “[UFC on FOX 4] ended up selling 10,151 tickets to the Staples Center and had 16,080 in the arena.”

Furthermore, UFC 157 isn’t the only PPV to have put up poor initial numbers:

[UFC 157] is also ahead of the pace for UFC 150 in Denver on Aug. 11, headlined by Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar for the lightweight title It’s also selling tickets ahead of the early pace of UFC 133, a show on Aug. 6, 2011, the company’s second trip to Philadelphia, which was originally headlined by Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis. 

The MMA world has gotten a bit carried away with Rousey-mania. True, an attractive, silver-tongued, kick-ass fighter seemed to have “top draw” written all over it (and, generally, web traffic in Rousey articles supported this fact). However, the most sacrosanct of metrics—dollar bills—show that society really doesn’t care all that much. 

Perhaps the idea of women in a cagefight doesn’t appeal to a wide audience? Or maybe MMA pundits refused to take off their triumphalism-tinted glasses and recognize that MMA is just a niche sport, even if it’s a highly marketable woman that’s doing the fighting?

Of course, ticket sales are only part of the equation.

The success of Ronda Rousey as a draw will be known for sure once the PPV numbers come in.

Then the world will see if women’s MMA in the UFC will live or die. If the most prominent female fighter alive can’t get PPV buys, the UFC’s great female experiment will likely be considered a failure. The plug will be unceremoniously pulled, snuffing out the dreams of many a female fighter across the world.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rousey vs. Cyborg: Dana White Says Dolce Diet Can Get Cyborg to 135

Famed MMA nutritionist Mike Dolce might be just the man that UFC president Dana White needs in order to seal the deal on a superfight between Ronda Rousey and Cristiane Justino.Right now, the only thing preventing a match between the two former Strikef…

Famed MMA nutritionist Mike Dolce might be just the man that UFC president Dana White needs in order to seal the deal on a superfight between Ronda Rousey and Cristiane Justino.

Right now, the only thing preventing a match between the two former Strikeforce women’s champions is a difference in weight.

But while Cris “Cyborg” insists that there’s no way that she can cut 10 pounds to challenge for Rousey’s UFC women’s bantamweight title belt, White tells TATAME that Dolce’s patented system can get the featherweight bruiser to safely and efficiently cut down to 135 pounds (translation via Google):

“She can get to this weight, we have an expert who can help you lose weight in a healthy way, [he] does so with all our athletes. We have Mike Dolce, who has the system to [get] wrestlers [to] lose weight and still feel good, and it’s all about your diet. He is 100% ready to work with her and [it] will not cost anything to Cris,” said Dana, who has even [compared] the Cyborg x Ronda [rivalry to] boxers Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

Bloody Elbow followed up with Dolce himself, who stated that not only would the weight cut be possible, but that he could also get Cyborg down to 135 pounds with very little difficulty:

It is absolutely possible for her to make 135. I believe 135 will be her best weight class. I think she’s a legitimate 135 pounder. I think as good as she was at 145, she’ll be even more dynamic at 135. I believe it wouldn’t be that difficult at all.

Dolce also told Bloody Elbow that Cyborg would actually be better suited fighting at the bantamweight limit and would be an “amazing” competitor at that weight. Even while competing at 145 pounds, Cyborg racked up an impressive 11-fight winning streak.

However, Justino’s career was put on hold due to a one-year suspension after testing positive for anabolic steroids in January 2012. Regardless of Cyborg’s schedule, Rousey will still make her first UFC title defense against top-ranked challenger Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.

If Rousey walks out of her first UFC main event as the champion, it’s highly possible that Cyborg will be next in line to fight for the women’s bantamweight title at a future UFC pay-per-view.

Both women have spent over a year trading heated words, with Rousey famously telling TSN Radio’s The MMA Report with John Pollock that she didn’t care if Cyborg was injecting “horse semen” into her eyes, but her foe simply needed to “stop doping” in order to successfully cut to 135 pounds.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ronda Rousey on Recent Fame: ‘I Haven’t Had Less Sex in My Life’

UFC bantamweight women’s champion Ronda Rousey is one of the most outspoken personalities in the sport, so it should come as no surprise that she opened up about her sex life in an interview with Esquire magazine. “Rowdy,” who was ranked 43 out of…

UFC bantamweight women’s champion Ronda Rousey is one of the most outspoken personalities in the sport, so it should come as no surprise that she opened up about her sex life in an interview with Esquire magazine. 

“Rowdy,” who was ranked 43 out of 99 on AskMen.com’s “Most Desirable Women of 2013,” inevitably talked about how the dating scene has been treating her since becoming a household name.

I haven’t had less sex in my life … It’s really funny, actually. I either get men coming up to me like, ‘Oh, my God, baby, I love you!’ or else they’re too shy to approach me. Can I get just a little in between?

On that note, Rousey, the first female fighter signed by the UFC, discussed whether or not she would considering having a romantic relationship with a fellow fighter. 

Hell no I ain’t gonna hook up with no fighter. I know these guys. They’re like a sewing circle and everyone tells everyone everything.

These comments are even more interesting when considering what the 25-year-old said on an appearance on The Jim Rome Show last month: “I try to have as much sex as possible before I fight.” 

The former Olympic bronze medalist in Judo brings a perfect 6-0 record to the Octagon and will headline UFC 157 in February when she defends her title against Liz Carmouche. 

Rousey has never gone past the first round in her career, finishing all of her opponents with an armbar. 

Do Rousey‘s latest comments about her sex life come off as shocking but true or just downright unbelievable?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com