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Ronda Rousey was the face of MMA at one point. The American is one of the most prolific female MMA fighters in the sport and has paved the way for a lot of women in the sport.
Rousey fought in the UFC's first female fight and went on to hold the record for the most title defenses. However, two successive losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes shortened her time at the UFC.
Rousey became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in Judo when she won bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. She then transitioned to MMA, and joined King of the Cage before eventually fighting in Strikeforce. In early 2011, after the UFC bought Strikeforce, she became the inaugural women's bantamweight champion and was part of the first female fight at UFC 157.
She showed her tremendous Judo skills by defending her title 6 times in dominant fashion. Then on 15 November 2015, she fought an underdog in Holly Holm, who shocked the world. At the time, 'Rowdy' looked invincible and no one expected Holm to win, especially not in the way she did. She knocked Rousey out with a deadly head kick in the second round of their fight to become champion.
A year later, she fought Brazilian Lioness Amanda Nunes and was knocked out even faster by the bantamweight champion. Nunes knocked Ronda Rousey out within 50 seconds of the very first round, marking her last fight in the UFC.
Why did Ronda Rousey retire from the UFC?
Back in 2016, after her second loss in a row at the hands of Amanda Nunes, the first female UFC Hall of Fame fighter announced her decision to retire from MMA. Following her consecutive losses, 'Rowdy' was at a really low point in her life where she questioned her worth as a champion. She then moved to WWE to focus more on wrestling.
In an interview with Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey spoke about how difficult it was to walk away from MMA:
"I think it was difficult in both Judo and MMA, in that everyone else felt that they wanted more from me."
'DC' compared her situation to that of Khabib Nurmagomedov, where the Dagestani decided he wanted to hang his gloves up but everybody else wanted him to keep fighting. Ronda Rousey went on to explain how she did not want to suffer and do something she did not feel like doing anymore just because other people wanted to see her do it.
Take a look at the interview:
