Ronda Rousey is one of the most influential fighters in mixed martial arts. Her fall from grace was steep but UFC president Dana White claims her rise in popularity and late-career decline are related.
Rousey became one of the UFC’s most popular stars and a legitimate mainstream attraction during her three-year tenure with the promotion. The UFC’s first female champion and signee had a remarkable ability to armbar nearly every opponent, plus blossoming knockout power in the second half of her career.
“What happened with Ronda was — Ronda was very unique in that she came in and put this thing on the world stage,” White explained on “The Club Shay Shay” podcast. “This thing being women fighting. She put it on the world stage at a level that nobody else could have done it. While she was doing what she was doing, building the sport and the UFC and women, all these other women were training to beat her.”
Rousey parlayed her sports fame into Hollywood appearances. She made her acting debut in 2014’s “The Expendables” followed by…
