Ronda Rousey’s 34-second win over Bethe Correia in UFC 190 reinforced what is becoming a widely held belief that there isn’t a more dominant MMA fighter. Rousey’s rise has not be slow and gradual. Since age 17 when qualified for the 2004 Olympics, Rousey has been at the center of the martial arts world. There have been numerous high points in her career, but these five were the most pivotal.
1. Qualifying for the 2004 Olympics at 17
Rousey finished ninth at the Athens Games. Not bad for the youngest judo player in the Olympics. She followed up the performance by winning gold at the 2004 world junior judo championships, following in the footsteps of her mother, AnnMaria De Mars, who became the first U.S. athlete to win a judo world title 1984.
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2. Winning the Judo bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics
Rousey made history by becoming the first American to win an medal in women’s judo when she defeated Germany’s Annett Böhm. The performance vaulted Rousey into view of a mainstream audience for the first time, and paved her way to MMA.
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3. Her first major professional MMA fight in 2011
After amassing a 3-0 record in amateur MMA fights, Rousey won two small professional bouts to set up her first major event at Strikeforce Challengers 18 against Sarah D’Alelio. It took Rousey 25 seconds to defeat D’Aleio with an armbar submission.
4. Defeat of Miesha Tate to become Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion
Rousey’s career continued with another armbar submission against Julia Budd, setting up a fight with Miesha Tate for shot at the Strikeforce Bantamweight title in March of 2012. The fight was Rousey’s longest to date, lasting 4:27 minutes, and ending with a gruesome armbar submission.
5. UFC 184
Rousey joined UFC in late 2012 with her first fight coming at UFC 157 against Liz Carmouche in February of 2013, becoming a full-fledged celebrity in the process. Rousey won the 2014 Best Female Athlete ESPY Award, landed starring role in The Expendables 3, and put together a 4-0 record in UFC along the way.
Her success setup a showdown with Cat Zingano at UFC 184. It took Rousey just 14 seconds to dispatch her opponent, sending her star rising into unchartered territory. After the fight, Rousey starred in Furious 7, appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside the Rock, broke a reporter’s ribs, and won the Best Female Athlete ESPY … again. UFC 184 served as the catalyst for Rousey’s transition from incredible athlete to unbreakable star.
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