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Ronda Rousey Is Unstoppable As she continues to crush opponents in a handful of seconds, the UFC
star has become a transformative athlete
http://www.wsj.com/articles/ronda-rousey-is-unstoppable-143is now a:
Head-shaven Ultimate Fighting Championship impresario Dana White, walking out of the Mr
Chow restaurant in Hollywood in 2011, swamped by paparazzi, who begin grilling him about the
latest gossip from the octagon. White good-naturedly trades fight talk (“That was the sickest kick
in MMA history!”) and answers questions as he searches for his waiting SUV. Before he departs,
there’s a final query:
When are we going to see women in the UFC?
“Never,” White says, chuckling.
The most powerful man in the sport steps into his ride, closes the door, and the black SUV rolls
away, mwahahaha.
This weekend, Ronda Rousey—an Olympic bronze medalist in judo-turned-mixed martial arts
fighter—fought again in the UFC octagon. Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion,
defeated her opponent, previously undefeated Bethe Correia, in 34 seconds, approximately the
time it takes the average human to walk down the average cereal aisle in the supermarket. At 28,
Rousey is both a supreme athlete and a mordantly fast worker: Her three fights before this one
lasted 14 seconds, 16 seconds and 1 minute 6 seconds, respectively.
UFC 190
Saturday, Rio de Janeiro
Ronda Rousey d. Bethe Correia, KO, round 1
It really makes you wonder: How on earth did someone last 1 minute 6 seconds with Rousey?
Rousey is now 12-0, and considered the best female mixed-martial fighter on the planet. What’s
staggering is not so much that she is competing in the UFC, but that she is the sport’s engine.
Four years after saying women wouldn’t fight, believing his audience didn’t want it, White now
routinely describes Rousey as the biggest superstar in the organization. She headlined Saturday’s
UFC 190 event in Rio de Janeiro, the signature draw of a main event after a long undercard of
male fighters. Mixed martial arts will never appeal to everyone, but Rousey is a transformative
athlete, whose fights are stepping beyond the UFC’s loyal following and becoming bona fide
cultural moments.
UFC mixed martial arts champ Ronda Rousey stops by the WSJ Café to talk about her new book, the
movie “Entourage,” and future fights. Photo: Getty (Originally published 5/28/15)
It definitely felt that way Saturday. Or I should say Sunday. Rousey’s fight did not begin until
approximately 2:20 a.m. Rio time—1:20 ET—way past bedtime for many, and here is a light
scolding for the UFC: Do not let the biggest sensation in your sport start so late. (Rousey is an
athlete. She is not Prince.) And yet I still stayed up, as did many others, including LeBron James
(“Good luck to @RondaRousey! Getting ready to watch you kick a—,” he wrote on Twitter),
admittedly drawn less by potential tactical drama than I was by a potential thrashing. People who
watch Rousey don’t want to watch her fight. They want to watch her destroy. Rousey’s
ascension has been compared by White and many others to the early years of Mike Tyson, whose
rise to the heavyweight championship was equally quick, brutal and, well, Rousey-esque.