Ronda Rousey entered the UFC Octagon on Feb 23rd, 2013. Moreover, looking at her background in Strikeforce and her undefeated record, she was handed the UFC’s inaugural Bantamweight woman’s belt. She defended it in her very first UFC fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.
Nevertheless, the hype surrounding her was backed up by her performance as she finished her opponent in the closing minutes of the very first round. From then on, ‘Rowdy’ would go on with an absolute tear. And akin to Mike Tyson, Rousey finished all her next opponents in the very first round.
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Furthermore, not only did she become the face of a woman’s MMA, but also the face of the UFC and MMA in general. Rousey’s dominance during her heydays took her to exceptional levels. Reflecting on the same, even UFC president Dana White compared the former women’s champion to Iron Mike.
Dana White calls Ronda Rousey the Mike Tyson of the UFC
White made an appearance on Tyson’s podcast ‘bite the mic‘, back in 2017, where he was asked in front of the boxer which UFC fighter has had an impact comparable to the one ‘Iron’ Mike made in boxing.
Meanwhile, everyone was expecting the name to be the Notorious, Conor McGregor. However, White, to everyone’s surprise, took the name of the former bantamweight champion. Moreover, he also had his reasons to back up his statement. The UFC kingpin said, “Our Tyson was Ronda (Rousey), man. Ronda had this aura of invincibility that we’ve never seen before.”
Dana White explains to Ronda Rousey why he didn’t want women in UFC and what changed his mind https://t.co/fBU8V28ffZ
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 29, 2022
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White further added, “That’s why everyone was calling Ronda our Mike Tyson because she was the most dominant athlete on the planet. Conor McGregor is different. Conor is completely different than Tyson his verbal game, his picking the round.” Nonetheless, many would also contribute to White’s great relationship with Rousey led him to take her name. However, there’s no doubt that in her prime, she was a force to be reckoned with.
What do you think of Ronda Rousey as an MMA fighter? Make sure you let us know in the comments section down below.
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