MMA fighter and movie star Ronda Rousey has made her final exit from MMA, but will sorely be missed by those she paved the way for.
The fighter made her debut four years ago and amounted to such popularity that only Conor McGregor rivaled. She quickly rose to prominence after becoming a six-time defending champion. Her winning streak soon ended when she suffered a knockout loss to Holly Holm. The fighter tried to revive her record but she soon suffered another defeat to Amanda Nunes. This led to her hanging up her gloves and leaving the MMA. Although her abrupt fall from grace was fast, the fighter is still regarded as one of the prominent figures in women’s MMA by fighters like Kayla Harrison.
Harrison regards Rousey as a teammate and roommate as the two competed in judo in the USA. Harrison believes that although Rousey did not leave the sport on a good note, there is no denying her impact on the sport.
“I think for me, no matter who Ronda is as a person and no matter what she says or thinks or how she does things or how she handles losses, how she handles any of it, no matter what, you cannot deny the fact that she shattered a ceiling for women,” Harrison told MMA Fighting. “Dana White went on record multiple times saying that he would never have women in the UFC. She f*cking blasted right through that.
“To me, that’s her legacy. No matter what she says or what she does, of course humans are going to be humans, people deal with things the way they deal with things but she paved the way when there was no way. That I am eternally grateful [for].”
Kayla Harrison disclosed she looked up to Rousey when she was still competing at the PFL. She views ‘Rowdy Ronda’ as the gold standard for becoming an Olympic champion.
“At one point, she was my role model and I lived with her, I trained with her,” Harrison said. “Anything she did, I wanted to do better. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do after the Olympics. I didn’t know where I was going to go. She showed me this path and then she made that path really wide.”
“Women’s MMA] went from like, oh maybe you could make a little bit of money and maybe girls can fight. There are young girls all over the world right now that are training MMA and who are ass-kickers. They are not afraid to be big and strong and powerful and confident.” Harrison said. “Ronda is a part of that. That’s history. That’s powerful.
“That just goes to show it doesn’t matter who you are, you can do great things. Again, no matter how she deals with it, or what she says about it, the end of her career, she made a way when there wasn’t a way. That’s to me, her legacy.”
Although Ronda Rousey didn’t win gold, she became the first American to win a medal in judo when she captured bronze at the 2008 games in Beijing. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame and has gone on to star in prominent movies like The Expendables, Furious 7, and The Entourage, amongst others.
Despite her many accomplishments, ‘Rowdy Ronda’ still feels there is a dark cloud over her head. Ronda believes she will most likely be unwelcome if she should ever attend any UFC event. She has felt this way ever since her loss, and she revealed in her latest autobiography that she suffered from a severe history of concussions. This led to her eminent retirement.
Regardless of her feelings, Rousey has undoubtedly made a huge impact on women in combat sports. She will always be remembered for her diligence and hard work.
