Olympic bronze medal winner poised to become a star in women’s MMA
“I think that even if things are stagnating a little bit right now, I think what women’s MMA needs is someone that’s marketable, gives a good interview and has exciting fights. I’m trying my best to be that person because I think that’s what women’s MMA needs to go to the next level.”
Those may sound like lofty goals for someone with just two professional fights under her belt, but Ronda Rousey isn’t your typical MMA neophyte.
Rousey qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece when she was 17-years-old, making her the youngest judo player in the Games. Four years later, she traveled to Beijing and brought home a bronze medal, the first American female to make the podium in the 16 years that women’s judo has been a part of the Games.
In addition to her Olympic accolades, Rousey earned a gold medal in the 2007 Pan-Am Games and captured silver in the World Championships that same year. Her success at the highest levels in judo have given her great confidence. Now that she’s moved on to mixed martial arts, Rousey is bringing that confidence with her both inside and outside the cage.
“I hope I’m the first of many Olympians to move over,” said the 24-year-old Californian, speaking to Heavy MMA just three days prior to making her Strikeforce debut. “There have been a few so far, and I think that having Olympic level athletes in the sport gives it a little more credibility so it doesn’t look like Foxy Boxing; it looks like something like a real sport that should be respected and that people want to watch.”
Yes, she said Foxy Boxing.
“It’s always going to be part of the sport,” Rousey continued, chuckling her way through a recollection of the King of the Hill episode where Luanne takes up the aforementioned pseudo-sport. “You’re always going to get fans from that, but you also want to get actual hardcore fans that have their kids watching and being like boxing fans where everyone in the family loves the sport and they understand it. I think the wider demographic that you can reach the better. You want to appeal to the people that are watching it because they like tight spandex on the guys or the girls, and you want to attract [hardcore fans] too.”
The potential is there for Rousey to be that person for women’s MMA; a fighter who bridges the gap between the two demographics, those interested in watching a good-looking women compete and those who care only about what happens in the fights.
Outside of the cage, Rousey is charismatic and attractive; blonde hair and a nice smile paired with a self-deprecating wit and carefree vibe to the way she talks that is disarming. She’s serious about her aspirations and abilities, but doesn’t take herself too seriously either.
“My plans for 2012 are that I’m probably going to go to every single bar in London and scream my head off at every single event, but I’m not going to compete,” she explained when asked about making a third trip to the Olympics next summer. “I feel like I’ve done everything I wanted to do in judo. I don’t really enjoy the training and the lifestyle anymore, but I love the Olympics. I’m definitely going to go, but I have no real desire to compete anymore.”
In 2010, Rousey shifted her focus to MMA, finally taking up an long-standing offer from some well-known judokas who have made the transition into the cage themselves.
“I knew I didn’t want to do judo anymore, so I narrowed down my options to either being a rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard or trying MMA,” explained the unbeaten 145-pound prospect. “I’ve known those guys from Hayastan — those Armenian guys — for years and they always tried to convince me to do it. I always said no, but when I got to the point that I knew I didn’t want to do judo any more, I was like, `You know what — I’ll give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go to the Coast Guard’ and it’s still working out. Good choice I thought.”
“Those guys from Hayastan” include UFC featherweight Manny Gamburyan and former WEC fighter Karen Darabedyan, as well as legendary coaches Gokor Ghivichyan and “Judo” Gene LeBell, a group Rousey credits for helping her get a proper start in the sport she now looks to one day dominate.
“I didn’t really have a very good impression of MMA when I got started. I’d dealt with a few people and they kind of just treated me like a stupid women who didn’t know what she was talking about. When I came up to them, I said, `Look, I want to be serious about this; I want to give this a try,’ they were the only people that were involved in that world that I trusted at all. They just kind of helped me find my manager and get started; they were my first coaches.
“I’ve made a couple changes since the beginning,” continued Rousey, who faces Sarah D’Alelio on Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers 18 event in Las Vegas. “Now I’m working with Edmond Tarverdyan at Glendale Fighting Club. I’m working with Leo Frincu who does my strength and conditioning and my wrestling training, and then I’m still doing my grappling at Hayastan.
“I feel like I’ve got a really good team together, a really cohesive team. They all speak Armenian so they understand their own little codes. They just keep talking about things behind my back, but in a good way.”
Rousey laughed. Unlike Rashad Evans, who said he’s slowly picking up Brazilian by working with his new team in Boca Raton, Florida, the unbeaten up-and-comer admitted she’s completely in the dark when it comes to what her coaches are saying to each other.
“I haven’t picked up any Armenian really at all. I think that they love that they have their own secret code. I can just hear them, `[mumbled fake Armenian] Ronda [mumbled fake Armenian],’ and I know that they’re talking about me. It ticks me off and they love it.”
While she may not understand what they’re saying, the skills they’re imparting on her are coming through the language barrier loud and clear.
The longest she’s been in the cage is 57 seconds; an amateur bout against Autumn Richardson for the Las Vegas-based Tuff-N-Uff promotion. Things haven’t changed since she’s gone pro; Rousey’s two wins have produced a combined 74 seconds in the cage.
“I’m not trying to show off; I’m just trying to be as efficient as possible,” she explained. “I’m not going into every fight thinking I’m going to end it this exact way. I always walk in improvising; I know I have a general plan and what I expect the other person to do and what I plan to do in reaction to those things, but I always start every fight with an open mind so I can react to the first thing that happens.”
Friday’s fight with D’Alelio was originally slated for last month’s Fedor vs. Henderson event in Chicago. It’s a shift that is both good and bad in the eyes of Rousey.
“At first I was a little bummed out because I absolutely love Fedor, and I would have loved to have been to that fight, especially because it could be his last fight ever. It would have been a good personal thing for me, but professionally, I think it’s way better that it got moved back to this card.
“On the Fedor-Henderson card, I would have been on the undercard, wouldn’t have gotten on TV, and it wouldn’t have gotten that much attention because there was such a major headliner. I think with the Strikeforce Challengers card, I get to be one of the televised fights, and hopefully one of the more exciting fights of the night.”
With the way she’s dominated thus far and her plan heading into the fight, there’s a very good chance that Rousey will deliver the kind of performance she’s hoping for in her Strikeforce debut on Friday night.
“Expect me winning — that’s my entire plan.”
You might want to remember the name Ronda Rousey – chances are you’re going to be hearing it a lot in the next couple years.