Ronda Rousey: Olympic medallist and the UFC’s first women’s champion | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

RONDA ROUSEY was the first woman to fight in the UFC and its first women’s champion. Thirteen of her 15 professional fights ended in the first round, and the armbar she learned from her mother finished all 10 of her submission wins.

Her title loss in Melbourne drew 56,214 people, a UFC record at the time, and in 2026 she came back for one more fight.

Early life

She was born on 1 February 1987. CBS reports that a lack of oxygen at birth left her with mild brain damage, and that she did not speak real words until about six. Her mother, AnnMaria De Mars, won the 1984 World Judo Championships, the first American to do so. Her father, Ron Rousey, died in 1995, and she has spoken publicly about losing him.

Getting started

She began judo with her mother at 11. In 2004 she was the youngest judoka at the Athens Olympics. At Beijing on 13 August 2008 she lost only to Edith Bosch of the Netherlands, in an overtime quarterfinal, then won her next three matches and beat Annett Boehm of Germany for bronze at 70 kg. CBS calls her the first American woman to medal in Olympic judo. She borrowed the nickname “Rowdy” from the wrestler Roddy Piper, with his blessing. She had her first amateur MMA fight in 2010 and won all three amateur bouts by armbar.

Career chapters

1. 2008Olympic judo bronze in Beijing
2. 2011Professional MMA debut, an armbar in 25 seconds
3. 2012Wins the Strikeforce title from Miesha Tate, then signs with the UFC
4. 2013Beats Liz Carmouche in the UFC’s first women’s fight
5. 2015Loses her title to Holly Holm in Melbourne
6. 2016Loses to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207
7. 2018First woman in the UFC Hall of Fame, and WWE debut
8. 2026Beats Gina Carano in 17 seconds

Strikeforce 2011 to 2012

Her professional debut, on 27 March 2011, ended with an armbar of Ediane Gomes in 25 seconds, and her first four wins all came by armbar inside a minute. On 3 March 2012 she armbarred Miesha Tate at 4:27 of the first round to win the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title, then defended it against Sarah Kaufman in 54 seconds. In November 2012 the UFC signed her, the first woman it had signed. Dana White, Who’s Who number 42 (story coming soon) had said women would never fight in the UFC.

UFC champion 2013 to 2015

On 23 February 2013 at UFC 157 she fought Liz Carmouche in the first women’s fight in UFC history. Carmouche took her back and locked on a neck crank, but Rousey shook loose and armbarred her at 4:49 of the first round. At UFC 168 she beat Tate again, this time in the third round, her only win past the first. Then came Sara McMann with a knee to the body, Alexis Davis in 16 seconds, Cat Zingano in 14 seconds and Bethe Correia in 34 seconds in Rio de Janeiro.

Holm and Nunes 2015 to 2016

On 15 November 2015 at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne she fought Holly Holm before 56,214 people. A Yahoo Sports review called her a 12-to-1 favourite. Holm kept her at range, and in the second round knocked her out with a left head kick at 59 seconds. It was her first professional loss. On 30 December 2016 at UFC 207 she returned against Amanda Nunes, Who’s Who number 6, who stopped her in 48 seconds.

WWE 2018 to 2023

She arrived at the 2018 Royal Rumble in Roddy Piper’s leather jacket and had her first match at WrestleMania 34. She won the Raw Women’s title from Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam 2018, and in 2019 she was in the first women’s match to headline WrestleMania. She won the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble and, with Shayna Baszler, the Women’s Tag Team titles in 2023, becoming the eighth women’s Triple Crown champion. She left WWE after losing to Baszler at SummerSlam 2023.

Our Fight and the Carano bout 2024 to 2026

Her memoir, Our Fight, was due out in April 2024. That March she said a history of concussions was why she had retired from MMA. On 16 May 2026 she headlined MVP MMA 1 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, streamed on Netflix, and armbarred Gina Carano in 17 seconds. She called it a one-off. Francis Ngannou, Who’s Who number 5 won on the same card, and Jon Jones, Who’s Who number 44 (story coming soon) was in the crowd.

Style, technique and the corner

How she fights

She is a judo-based grappler. She once said she believed her judo alone could win every fight. Her method was the clinch, the throw and the armbar: every one of her 10 professional submissions and all three amateur wins came that way. From 2014 she also finished with strikes, including a knee to the body against McMann and single punches against Davis and Correia. UFC.com put her average fight time at 2 minutes 36 seconds.

Teams and gyms

Her first coach was her mother. In MMA she trained with Edmond Tarverdyan at Glendale Fighting Club in California.

Stories people still tell

1. Rowdy.

   She asked Roddy Piper if she could use his nickname, and he agreed.

2. The first women’s UFC fight.

   She and Carmouche headlined UFC 157, the first time women had fought in the UFC.

3. Fourteen seconds.

   Her win over Zingano at UFC 184 took 14 seconds, her fastest professional finish.

Legacy

She was the first woman signed by the UFC, its first women’s champion and the first woman in its Hall of Fame, inducted in July 2018. In her induction speech she said, “May I be the first of many.” She married the former UFC fighter Travis Browne in 2017, and they have two daughters.