httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3-F6DcGUsk
Now we learn a lot more about Ronda Rousey and the UFC.
Until Sunday afternoon in Melbourne, Australia, Rousey had never lost an MMA fight.
Even if you thought her fame was partly hype-and in the fight world, everyone’s fame is partly hype-it is hard to overstate what a transformative figure Rousey, a former Olympic judoka, had become in her sport.
Rousey had begun her MMA career at a time the UFC didn’t even offer women’s fighting-and within a couple of years, she was the sport’s most recognizable star, an economic force, headlining events full of men’s matches.
The UFC in turn was building with Rousey, capitalizing on her popularity to promote the sport around the globe.
Though the UFC had created stars in its men’s division, Rousey was breaking through to the mainstream like no one before.
Rousey is hardly the first fighter to suffer a shocking upset-many drew parallels between Holm’s knockout of Rousey and Buster Douglas’s KO of Tyson, as imprecise as those parallels may be.
T are questions for the UFC too: In the coming months, will the league promote Holm as its Next Big Name, or simply a nemesis that the beloved Rousey must avenge? T will be those who wonder if the “Rousey effect” and UFC’s commitment to women’s fighting-on Sunday, another women’s title match preceded Rousey-Holm-will remain as vigorous.
The fighting life of Ronda Rousey feels a lot less predictable now, but the unpredictable is fun, too.