Born 1987 in California, Ronda Rousey was
the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion, who defended her belt 12 times in her
professional career. She also is an Olympic medalist in judo and arguably the
most dominant athlete in UFC history. Rowdy Ronda Rousey is responsible for the
creation of the women’s division in the UFC Octagon. She has taken Hollywood’s
heart also, with her signature “badassery,” landing roles in major films and
exploding onto the scene with the determination, commitment and expertise that
made her the champion.
Rousey endured a tough childhood as she was
born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, causing her to almost die
from lack of oxygen and slight brain damage. This enabled her to speak properly
until she was roughly 7 years old. Alongside her severe speech impediment, was dealing
with her father’s heart-breaking suicide. The tragedy fell years before the
suicide, when her broke his back while sledding with the family. A blood
disorder prevented him from healing properly and the family learned he would
soon become a paraplegic. He committed suicide when Rousey was just 8 years
old.
Ronda struggled in class and was
homeschooled for parts of elementary and high school. Professional psychologist
AnnMaria De Mars (her mother) was very supportive of her and encouraged her to
learn judo. Her mother, a gold medalist at the 1984 World Championships, began
to teach Rousey the basics of sports and because of her bad knees, taught Ronda
the perfection of the dreaded arm bar.
Through Rousey’s competitive Judo career,
she became the youngest American to earn the national number 1 raking in the
women’s half-middleweight division. She also claimed gold at that the 2004
World Junior and Pan American Judo Championships. Rousey became the first
American woman in 12 years to earn a World Championship medal, despite tearing
her knee.
After retiring Judo at age 21, she worked
as a bartender and lived out of her car in LA before joining the Glendale
Fighting Club. In 2010 she made her amateur introduction into mixed martial
arts by submitting her opponent in 24 seconds. Continuing her domination, she
turned to professional fighting and defeated Miesha Tate, becoming Strikeforce
Women’s Bantamweight champion.
Rousey eventually became the first woman to
sign with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s largest mixed
martial arts league. She then successfully defended her belt 12 times – her
total cage time 25 minutes and two seconds, after 11 pro fights. (That’s an
average of two minutes and 16 seconds per fight. She’s ended seven of her pro
victories in less than one minute).
She’s also made many TV show appearances,
acting in Hollywood movies such as The Expendables 3 (2014, Fast and Furious
(2015), Encourage (2015) and is currently working on the movie “Mile 22.” She’s
been on the cover of many magazines such as Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the
first female to ever be on Men’s Fitness’s magazine cover.
Ronda Rousey also recently wrote her first
book “My Fight Your Fight.” In this inspiring book, the champion shares her
undeniable success and the difficult path of getting there. She reveals her
tough lessons she’s learned in life – inside and outside the Octagon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTMU13_Zgxw
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