Ronda Rousey and the UFC are finally married to one another. The proverbial glass ceiling has shattered, and women will make their UFC debut in 2013. Rousey will automatically become the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. The question now begs: Who wil…
Ronda Rousey and the UFC are finally married to one another. The proverbial glass ceiling has shattered, and women will make their UFC debut in 2013.
Rousey will automatically become the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. The question now begs: Who will be her counterpart in the first ever women’s UFC title fight?
The options may seem plentiful, but they quickly get whittled down.
Many fans and pundits may want that first fight to be the much sought after bout against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. There are two problems with this match-up: She will be coming off of a suspension for testing positive for stanozolol, and she is not a bantamweight.
It is tough to have a title fight when one participant is not in that weight class. Cyborg is not an option for the first bout.
So, who are the other women who could conceivably challenge Rousey?
Sarah Kaufman’s name would hit the top of the list as one of the top five in the division, but she just challenged Rousey and was quickly defeated. She will need a couple more wins before trying to dethrone the champion again.
Another potential fight would be with Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann. The problem with that fight is that not many know who McMann is. In spite of signing a Strikeforce deal she never had the opportunity to fight for the organization.
The field of women seeking that title shot should come down to three: Liz Carmouche, MarloesCoenen, and Miesha Tate.
Some may bemoan the inclusion of Tate due to her brutal loss to Rousey in early 2012, but the hatred between the two women will be a nice selling point for the UFC audience who did not follow their first encounter.
It is a fight that has instant heat and would do well on a FOX or FX telecast.
Carmouche and Coenen are other viable options. WhileCoenen went back to 145 for a fight in Invicta, she could still return as a top contender to the bantamweight division, and Carmouche is one of the division’s top fighters without a fight lined up.
None of these ladies are a bad option, but Tate is the optimal solution.
There has been a consistent growing buzz around Rousey, and her first fight should have a little spice to it. A second meeting between the two would offer the UFC audience a chance to be privy to their exchanges in and out of the cage.
It would draw the most interest out of the gate. Something that Rousey, and women’s MMA, needs in this foray in the UFC.
Making Tate the first challenger will also give the other women in the division a chance to make their case for the next shot. Should their fight also be telecast on free television it will help the second defense of the title.
A Rousey-Tate rematch is the right way to go. The UFC should take advantage of the rivalry that is already ongoing and use it to their advantage in promoting the introduction of Rousey to the UFC audience. It is a win for everyone.
Two pieces of related news broke last night that have massive implications for the future of MMA. First, Strikeforce superstar Ronda Rousey has reportedly become the first female fighter to join the UFC, and will immediately be crowned the UFC’s 135-pound women’s champion. The news was broken by TMZ, and confirmed by MMAFighting with sources close to the promotion, although neither the UFC nor Rousey have released an official statement. No word on Rousey’s promotional debut date or opponent, though her old pal Miesha Tate will apparently be a part of the UFC’s budding women’s roster as well.
Clearly, the promotion can make money off of the former Olympic medalist. The question is, who is she going to fight, and exactly how committed is the UFC to women’s MMA? Will the UFC be doing its best to fill out multiple weight divisions and regularly put female fighters on its cards, or is this just going to be the Ronda Rousey Show, with “Rowdy” armbarring whoever they can find to fight her, in relatively meaningless exhibitions three times a year? More details are expected to be announced early next week, which may shed some more insight on the UFC’s longer-term goals with their new acquisition.
And that brings us to the second bit of major news, which might even be more well-received, considering how long we’ve been begging for it…
Two pieces of related news broke last night that have massive implications for the future of MMA. First, Strikeforce superstar Ronda Rousey has reportedly become the first female fighter to join the UFC, and will immediately be crowned the UFC’s 135-pound women’s champion. The news was broken by TMZ, and confirmed by MMAFighting with sources close to the promotion, although neither the UFC nor Rousey have released an official statement. No word on Rousey’s promotional debut date or opponent, though her old pal Miesha Tate will apparently be a part of the UFC’s budding women’s roster as well.
Clearly, the promotion can make money off of the former Olympic medalist. The question is, who is she going to fight, and exactly how committed is the UFC to women’s MMA? Will the UFC be doing its best to fill out multiple weight divisions and regularly put female fighters on its cards, or is this just going to be the Ronda Rousey Show, with “Rowdy” armbarring whoever they can find to fight her, in relatively meaningless exhibitions three times a year? More details are expected to be announced early next week, which may shed some more insight on the UFC’s longer-term goals with their new acquisition.
And that brings us to the second bit of major news, which might even be more well-received, considering how long we’ve been begging for it…
Though it hasn’t been confirmed yet, reports indicate that Strikeforce will be folding after their next show. After Strikeforce’s last two events were canceled due topoorly-timed injuries to main-event fighters, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker promised fans a “stacked” card in january to make up for it. And yes, that event will be stacked (at least by Strikeforce’s standards), but it also could be the promotion’s last hurrah.
– Luke Rockhold defending his middleweight title against Lorenz Larkin, who won his 185-pound debut against Robbie Lawler in July.
– Nate Marquardt defending his welterweight title against Tarec Saffiedine, who has won decisions in his last three outings.
– Daniel Cormier fulfilling his contract obligations against Dutch veteran Dion Staring. Yep. That’s the best they could do.
If Strikeforce is indeed kaput after the January show, some of these guys could be fighting to remain employed by Zuffa, which could make the vibe at the Chesapeake Energy Arena even more somber than it would be already. It’ll be a weird night, full of title fights that don’t mean jack shit, and the sense of impending doom. But hey, it’s what we all wanted, right?
With the recent news that Ronda Rousey has signed with UFC, it is worth asking how she—and women’s MMA generally—should be introduced to a mainstream MMA audience. Some might argue that her star already shines so brightly that UFC nee…
With the recent news that Ronda Rousey has signed with UFC, it is worth asking how she—and women’s MMA generally—should be introduced to a mainstream MMA audience.
Some might argue that her star already shines so brightly that UFC needn’t make the effort to introduce her to the masses. That perspective doesn’t jibe with the facts, however.
The truth is that the UFC audience is generally oblivious to what goes on in the larger world of MMA. If it doesn’t happen in the UFC, it might as well not have happened, so far as most viewers are concerned.
It should not be assumed that there is a huge built-in audience for Rousey. Indeed, the numbers she pulls on Showtime, while impressive, are comparable to those of Gina Carano during her tenure in Strikeforce.
Like Carano, she has pierced the mainstream consciousness to some degree, with appearances on TMZ and Conan. But despite what she has said in the past, Rousey does not boast the kind of profile that would allow her to be one half of the biggest bout in MMA history—at least not yet.
Dana White and company must introduce the former Olympian in the right way, for her sake and for the sake of women’s MMA.
That means matching her up with an opponent who can last longer than a teenager lasts his first time. The last thing UFC needs is to start promoting the kind of squash matches that wouldn’t look out of place on a 90s WWE show.
That wouldn’t do WMMA any favours, whatsoever. In fact, it wouldn’t even do Rousey any favours. People want to see competitive action, not the modern day equivalent of feeding Christians to the lions.
This is all easier said than done, of course. If Rousey is truly that much better than her contemporaries, there isn’t much that Joe Silva and Sean Shelby can do about it.
There is at least one fighter who could challenge Rousey and have a realistic shot at winning, however:
Sara McMann.
Not only would the bout be extraordinarily competitive, but it would also have a built-in storyline, with two Olympic medallists duking it out for bragging rights and, very likely, the honour of becoming UFC’s first female champion.
With the kind of wrestling base that McMann possesses, it’s hard to imagine Rousey being able to ragdoll her and slap on an armbar within the first minute of the fight. In all likelihood, we would finally get to see how evolved Rousey’s stand-up game is at this point in her career.
One wonders whether UFC would risk pitting their star against the one fighter who has a serious shot at beating her—besides a juiced “Cyborg” Santos. Chances are they may look to build up to an eventual clash of the former Olympians.
Unfortunately, that leaves them with the problem of what to do with Rousey in the meantime. Should they simply put her in the cage with clearly overmatched opponents, in a WSOF-style approach to matchmaking?
The fans may enjoy it for a while, but it won’t be long before they grow tired of watching one mismatch after another.
One can only hope that the Zuffa brass have some concrete plans in place for Rousey, otherwise they risk botching the larger project of growing women’s MMA.
“I would beat the crap out of Kim Kardashian,” she said about the Hollywood starlet. “Get over yourself, all you do is swim,” she said concerning legendary Olympic athlete Michael Phelps. The woman who uttered those brazen senti…
“I would beat the crap out of Kim Kardashian,” she said about the Hollywood starlet. “Get over yourself, all you do is swim,” she said concerning legendary Olympic athlete Michael Phelps.
The woman who uttered those brazen sentiments would end up becoming the very first woman in the UFC—Ronda Rousey.
Rousey is an Olympic bronze medalist in judo as well as an undefeated mixed martial arts fighter and now a trailblazer for female fighters everywhere. If the glass ceiling is the barrier women in the office world face, then Rousey broke the caged ceiling—the barrier that had been keeping women out of the world’s foremost mixed martial arts promotion.
However, she is more than just a fighter and pioneer. She is the greatest female sports role model of the times.
How can she be that influential?
The answer can’t be summed up in a sentence or two.
You know what? I would beat the crap out of Kim Kardashian actually. Any girl who is famous and idolized because she made a sex video with some guy and that’s all you’re known for, ‘Oh, I got my fame for sucking [expletive],’ I think it’s pretty stupid, sorry, but it’s true.
Why is everyone slipping it under the carpet now? She’s selling Sketchers to 13-year-olds. I don’t want some girl—whose entire fame is based on a sex video—selling Sketchers to my little sister.
Girls like Kim Kardashian are being pushed in my little sister’s face, and it’s just not healthy. She shouldn’t need to have role models like this, and that’s why I’m doing stuff like ESPN Body because someone needs to do it.
A second tirade soon followed live on TMZ, “This girl should be selling lube or something like that instead. Why is she selling shoes?” Rousey said.
In an age where girls as young as six view themselves as sex objects, Rousey‘s stance as a foil to Kardashian is crucial. There are no other females in the sports world today taking such a vocal stance against such sordidness.
In fact, Rousey might be the only positive female role model in general.
When you turn on the television, do you see a Marie Curie inspiring women to unlock the secrets of chemistry and physics? Do you see another Billie Jean King convincing women they are athletically equal to males? Do you see the success story of Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer being shared with young women?
No. There are only the idiotic ravings of the Kardashian family and Snooki, the classless dregs of society displayed on 16 and Pregnant and the pathetic, selfish characters on Girls. Even in sports, what are the prominent female athletes known for?
The Williams sisters are talented but don’t seek to purge the culture of corrupt influences. Other female athletes reduce themselves to sex symbols. Lolo Jones might be considered a more positive figure to look up to, but that was simply because she claimed to be a virgin, a fact which captivated the media for some reason.
Rousey questioning a figure’s cultural worth is therefore a step in the right direction as far as female role models in sports are concerned.
Furthermore, Rouseydidn’t acquire fame through engaging in sexual activities with a C-list celebrity and/or having a droll “reality” show. Rousey worked tirelessly in judo (even dropping out of high school to attend the Olympic Games in 2004 at age 17) and earned a bronze medal in 2008 for her efforts.
Succeeding in one field wasn’t enough for Rousey, who set her sights on professional mixed martial arts in 2011. She captured the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship (arguably the most prestigious female title in the sport) a year after her pro debut as a fighter. Now she’s in the UFC.
How do her skills—throwing people around, torqueing limbs and beating people up—help young girls?
The answer doesn’t lie in her literal skills, but in her story in general.
Ronda Rousey achieved. She didn’t stumble upon, she didn’t coast, and she didn’t get lucky. She achieved greatness, and not through sordid means or decadence, but through mental and physical fortitude as well as unshakable determination. She’s a worker, not a lazy, complaint-prone (sub)urbanite.
Her presumptuous demeanor might raise the eyebrow of a skeptic since, after all, who in their right mind calls out the most successful Olympian in history, as Rousey did some time ago?
A clever woman, that’s who.
Rousey’s critique of Michael Phelps is based off her experiences in the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. It was here that Phelps acted like a bit of a diva, secluding himself from the other Olympians at a party. She said:
Yeah, Michael Phelps kind of annoyed me a little bit…Michael Phelps needed his own private section of the club to be private, for him. Even the NBA players—who are a bigger deal than this guy—they’re all hanging out with the rest of us. We’re your teammates! We’re not a bunch of groupies! Come hang out with us. Who the hell are you? Then we had the Oprah thing…they had all the medalists on there…Michael Phelps had to be kept separate in a different backstage area so he wouldn’t be harassed by all the other Olympians. I don’t like being somebody’s teammate and being treated like I’m a groupie…Get over yourself. All you do is swim. If someone slapped you every single time you jumped in the pool then I’d have a little more respect.
Despite sounding boorish, Rousey conveys a good message with her “rant” against Phelps. An accomplished woman—or any accomplished person for that matter—shouldn’t accept being deemed unworthy to grace a more “famous” person’s presence (or, as Rousey herself put it, being relegated to “groupie” status).
There is also intelligence behind the callous words. Rousey catapulted herself to stardom in the MMA world by saying outlandish, controversial things. She’s made herself into a character that people love or love to hate. This persona is the product of understanding how the world works.
Rousey knows that being nice and quiet doesn’t sell tickets or generate press, so she’s not “nice,” and she’s not quiet. Some would say that this “questionable” moral fiber makes her a poor role model, but those people aren’t seeing the big picture.
Rousey says these things because they’re good for her career. Chiding well-known figures like Kim Kardashian and Michael Phelps generates articles, which generate more knowledge about Ronda Rousey and her career in judo and MMA.
And what’s wrong with having an edge? It’s the sports world, after all. All athletes should have a bit of fire to them, and that fire should rub off on their fans.
An additional point to make about Rousey is that she has the perspicacity to understand how to promote herself, yet she never completed high school or went to college. Being “uneducated” doesn’t put her out of the role model category; saying otherwise is myopic.
The American education system is undergoing a paradigm shift. No longer is a college degree going to get you a good, or even decent, job. Degrees are swiftly becoming worth less than the paper they’re printed on, yet the prices of obtaining them are constantly skyrocketing.
Rousey is a sports role model that reflects this change in the world. Her success teaches children that they can find their own path outside of the declining education system. Blowing $40,000-plus on a degree only to be a lifer at Starbucks or some other equally miserable fate isn’t the only option anymore. Find another female sports star that demonstrates this message in such a way.
Ronda Rousey is the greatest female sports role model in sports today. There is no woman competing today who can convey as many positive lessons and dictums as Rousey can.
If her story spreads across the sports world, young girls will learn to emulate this successful, strong-willed athlete rather than the more questionable female characters out there, all thanks to a brash, fiery MMA fighter with steel in her heart and silver on her tongue.
Well folks, it wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did. Ronda Rousey is the first female to be signed by the UFC. Not only was it not supposed to happen, even though I figured it would, but it happened incredibly soon. With Ronda Rousey’s signing wi…
Not only was it not supposed to happen, even though I figured it would, but it happened incredibly soon. With Ronda Rousey‘s signing with the UFC, she is going to need some opponents.
Much like the flyweight division, the women’s division of the UFC will come together slowly and carefully.
Here are some other females the UFC should sign as soon as possible to get their women’s division rolling.
Note: The fighters chosen will revolve around the women’s bantamweight division, as this addition must be done one weight class at a time.
So much for women never fighting in the UFC.Less than two years after UFC president Dana White said women would never compete in the UFC, Ronda Rousey will reportedly become the first female fighter to join the organization, per TMZ.com.Rousey, who has…
Rousey, who has become a star in Strikeforce, has won six professional fights, all via her devastating armbar. She won a highly publicized fight against Sarah Kaufman in August after dispatching rival Miesha Tate in March.
Rousey’s last two fights have truly shown just how dominant she is, and how her trademark armbar is virtually unstoppable.
According to the TMZ report, Rousey is expected to defend the women’s 135-pound title in 2013. Potential opponents include Tate, Sara McMann and Cris Cyborg.
This has to be a thrilling time for the 25-year-old. Her star has grown so quickly since first fighting Ediene Gomes in March 2011. In a year-and-a-half, she has ascended into the spotlight with unbelievable speed.
This is also a thrilling time for female MMA fighters. White’s stance has changed and Rousey—a controversial figure throughout her Strikeforce career—is the main reason.
My guess is that Tate’s opinion of Rousey will be altered just a bit knowing that she now has an opportunity to fight in the UFC.
Or she will bring that fiery rivalry into the UFC, which is what most of us are hoping for.
Watch out world, Ronda Rousey is just getting started.
Ronda Rousey and the UFC are finally married to one another. The proverbial glass ceiling has shattered, and women will make their UFC debut in 2013.
