Ronda Rousey

[GeneChing]

She needs her own thread here. She's been mentioned elsewhere, of course, like the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey and the Women in MMA threads.

Ronda Rousey and UFC Stars Take a Swing at Horrible California MMA Legislation
By Jonathan Snowden (MMA Lead Writer) on April 26, 2012


Rob Maysey's Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association seems to have been a colossal flop.

The organization attempted to bring fighters together to "maximize the influence and earning capacity of its members in the sport of mixed martial arts." Maysey told me last year that the tyranny of Dana White and Zuffa was holding the fighters back.

"Currently, the business of mixed martial arts is akin to the old 'studio system' that dominated Hollywood, where the fates of actors were left entirely to the mercy of idiosyncratic studio executives and owners," Rob Maysey said.

Maysey, a long-time advocate for fighter's rights, runs the Mixed Martial Arts Fighter's Association. He says the lack of a viable competitor makes an organization like his more necessary than ever.

"In MMA, the athletes may be at an even greater disadvantage, as only one major 'producer' (the UFC) remains. Monopolies in the existing team sports arguably serve to maximize the earnings potential, level of competition and brand power of existing leagues.

"The monopolistic power enjoyed by these leagues, however, is necessarily offset with a counter balance in the form of a strong association representing the interests of the athletes. Without such protection, the athletes face a future that may resemble the studio actors prior to the emergence of the Screen Actors Guild and other protections afforded by law."

It turns out that fighters were more comfortable with their agents and managers helping them maximize earnings, rather than an Association. Maysey wasn't able to galvanize much support. One veteran agent told me he was "too fanatical" and that his dismissal of the UFC didn't sit well with the fighters who have become wealthy working with Zuffa.

For the most part, Maysey faded from the scene—but it's become obvious that he had no intention of disappearing entirely. It appears that he is now working behind the scenes, trying to do legislatively what he couldn't manage in the free market. If fighters didn't want to support the MMAFA of their own free will, why not force them into it with the power of the state?

Yesterday, California Congressman Luis A. Alejo, with Maysey riding shotgun in support, introduced California AB2100 and managed to get the bill out of committee and before the Assembly as a whole.

The legislation reads like an MMAFA manifesto. It looks to abolish what they consider exploitative contracts, charge the UFC an exorbitant five percent of their pay-per-view income from events in California and essentially kill MMA in the state on all levels.

Rousey's testimony

While Frank Shamrock and Antonio McKee spoke on behalf of the legislation, Strikeforce star Ronda Rousey was a vocal critic, telling the committee she was making good money after only a year of fighting professionally.

"I didn't get that way through bad contracts," Rousey said. "This is a performance-based business. You have to make yourself valuable. I win, and I make myself entertaining to watch, and that's why this company pays me.

"...This bill is being presented as something to help the athletes. It wouldn't help me renegotiate a contract. I would enter into a contract. Even if I'm happy with it and they're happy with it, and I went and told all my friends 'Oh my God, I have a UFC contract, that's so cool,' someone that I don't know and doesn't know me or anything about my financial situation could take a look at this contract, say they don't like it, and instead of helping me renegotiate it, pull the promoter's license."

In the end, debate over this legislation is just noise. No single state could hope to enact any meaningful change. As UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta explained, this legislation would simply demand that any responsible business promote shows anywhere but California:

It is therefore troubling that AB2100 would specifically impede bringing business to California and would intentionally drive the business to states with a more reasonable tax and regulatory framework.

Indeed, AB2100 would remove the economic certainty of television taxes and would place an undue and unacceptable burden on all promoters of televised unarmed combat.

Thus, the proposed tax structure would actually result in fewer events in California, and would directly harm California’s athletes, arenas, hotels, restaurants, shopkeepers and all of their respective employees and families.

I don't believe that this legislation is necessary. Fighters are free to negotiate deals that work for them. If they are unhappy with the UFC, they can find another party to promote their fights.

For the most part, fighters haven't, and won't, because the UFC pays well, on time, and offers tons of options for earning ancillary income.

It's a system that isn't broken. The last thing it needs is an incompetent California legislature meddling where it doesn't belong.

[Lucas]

[TroyMacraft]

Ronda Rousey has the weight of Women's MMA on her shoulders right now. Very like-able and easy to cheer for.

[dcrjradmonish]

Watching her on the ultimate fighter giving the boys tips then going and visiting them in the house makes me think this might be the beginning of seeing the girls fight in ufc. She is my favorite female fighter of all times although gina is a close 2nd.

[GeneChing]

VIDEO!

Body Issue 2012: Ronda Rousey
Publish Date: Today, 11:48 AM ETDuration: 01:44

http://espn.go.com/espn/photos/galle...-espn-magazine
http://espn.go.com/espn/photos/galle...-espn-magazine
http://espn.go.com/espnw/photos/gall...dies-want-2012

Ronda Rousey featured in ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue
By Maggie Hendricks | Cagewriter – 2 hours 51 minutes ago



Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is one of six athletes who will appear on different covers of ESPN the Magazine's Body Issue. Rousey is not the first fighter to appear in the yearly issue dedicating to celebrating athletes' bodies. Jon Jones, Gina Carano and the Cyborgs have all appeared in previous issues.

(ESPN)The magazine officially drops on newsstands Tuesday. To see the complete pictures of Rousey and every athlete featured in the magazine, check here. To see more Rousey in the cage, wait until Aug. 18, when she'll attempt to defend her belt for the first time.

"the Cyborgs"

[enoajnin]

Still trying to get the image of Tim Morehouse, fencer, from that issue out of my head.

[GeneChing]

Anyone watch the fight?

Aug 19, 2012
Strikeforce CEO: 'Female mixed martial arts is here to stay'
6:11 PM


By Jayne Kamin-Oncea, US Presswire

By John Morgan and Matt Erickson, MMAjunkie.com

SAN DIEGO -- Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has long been a staunch supporter of women competing in mixed martial arts, and it seems he's quickly developing a powerful ally.

UFC President Dana White, who has often expressed concern in regards to the viability of female MMA, was cageside on Saturday in San Diego to watch women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey (6-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) continue her impressive streak, and Coker believes there should now be little doubt what women can bring to the sport.

"Female mixed martial arts is here to stay," Coker said on Saturday. "Look at the fights tonight. They were unbelievable. They're great athletes, and I think that tonight they showed that again."

In total, three of Saturday's eight "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman" fights featured female talent. Featherweights Germane de Randamie (3-2 MMA, 2-1 SF) and Hiroko Yamanaka (12-2 MMA, 0-1 SF) didn't exactly thrill the Valley View Casino Center in their preliminary matchup, but the striker vs. grappler affair played out as those bouts tend to when the fighter looking to bring the fight to the floor is unable to do so.

But the night took a dramatic shift for the better when former female champion Miesha Tate (13-3 MMA, 6-2 SF) and Julie Kedzie (16-11 MMA, 0-2 SF) went back and forth for the better part of three rounds before the artist formerly known as "Takedown" was able to register a submission win. White, who was watching the fights simply as a fan, couldn't contain his excitement.

"WOW!" White wrote on Twitter. "Now I know who Julie Kedzie is!!!

"HOLY [expletive]. Tate is tough as nails!!!!!"

White's excitement remained at a fever-pitch following the night's main event, where Rousey continued her impressive run as a professional fighter by notching her sixth straight first-round armbar victory.

"Ronda is a BEAST!!!!," wrote White, who attended this month's UFC on FOX 4 weigh-ins wearing a T-shirt adorned with Rousey's ESPN the Magazine "Body Issue" cover.

Coker, Strikeforce's founder, has seen the women's sport develop over the past six years and believes it's time for the questions concerning legitimacy of the women's product to stop.

"It's here to stay," Coker said. "Showtime loves female fights. I love the female fights. I've always believed in it."

Since onetime rival promotion EliteXC shut its doors in 2008, Strikeforce has been the home to female MMA's biggest stars. From Gina Carano to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos to Rousey, the honorary "face of women's MMA" has been a Strikeforce fighter. Questions constantly surround the future of the organization, but Coker insists for now, Strikeforce remains strong and is firmly committed to promoting the female game.

"We did the first female fight in 2006 with Gina Carano fighting Elaina Maxwell back in the day," Coker said. "That was the first fight in the state of California that was sanctioned. We're going to continue doing it."

Whether or not the women will ever step into the UFC cage remains to be seen. White has long contended that there simply aren't enough women in the sport to create a meaningful division, but upstart promotions like the all-female Invicta Fighting Championships are working hard to change that.

Recently, White has even been quoted as saying, hypothetically speaking, that Rousey could someday potentially serve as the first female to fight in the UFC's octagon. While television contracts and operational policies currently make that dream impossible, it's obvious White is at least taking more notice of what female fighting is all about.

And Coker believes it's time for others to do the same.

"I think they've proved themselves again and again and again," Coker said. "Those questions, I think, should stop coming up."

[Hebrew Hammer]

Saw it, she always beats up on the Jewish girls...she was hot and devastating. I'm curious to see how she deals with someone who can stop her take downs. Her Judo is amazing. Her striking needs some work. She called out Cyborg at the end of the fight. Cyborg might be another story, that man child might be tough.

The fight of the night actually went to her previous victim, Meisha 'Cupcake' Tate. Tate got pummeled for almost 2 solid rounds, then came back in the third to sink in the rear naked choke. Awesome fight.

Would love to see Carano vs Rousey...the winner gets a date with me.

[Faruq]

Didn't Rousey break Tate's arm in her last fight? Wasn't she the champ who refused to tap out? I'm stupified that such a horrible arm break didn't end her career! She's fighting again 3 months later! Unbelievable!

[Hebrew Hammer]

Originally Posted by Faruq

Didn't Rousey break Tate's arm in her last fight? Wasn't she the champ who refused to tap out? I'm stupified that such a horrible arm break didn't end her career! She's fighting again 3 months later! Unbelievable!

Yes, the commentators and I were amazed about her recovery, they said anyone they've ever seen or known with that kind of dislocation were never the same. Tate got lucky and had full range of motion.

[MightyB]

Originally Posted by Hebrew Hammer

Would love to see Carano vs Rousey...the winner gets a date with me.

Heck - I'd even take the loser.

[Faruq]

Originally Posted by Hebrew Hammer

Yes, the commentators and I were amazed about her recovery, they said anyone they've ever seen or known with that kind of dislocation were never the same. Tate got lucky and had full range of motion.

Wow, I'm astonished. Maybe she's double jointed or something...

[mawali]

She's strong, capable, does Judo, upped her game with BJJ, tough, ability to think on her feet and until she meets an equal competitor, she is the Boss! Of course, if she starts to take the 'status' of fame too far, then she falls faster!

I saw her last week in an ESPN special MMA and women, and she appears level headed!

[MightyB]

Sweet Highlight Clip. She does a lot of my favorite take downs at around the 1:30 mark.

[GeneChing]

Good list of her media accolades here.

Sep 07, 2012
Rolling Stone says Ronda Rousey 'best female fighter ever'
By Matt Erickson, MMAJunkie.com

Ronda Rousey can add Rolling Stone magazine to her ever-growing mass media resume.

Rousey, the unbeaten Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion, makes an appearance in the magazine's most recent issue in a short piece 33 pages in –- next to a fellow Olympian and U.S. swimming sensation Ryan Lochte.

And Rolling Stone cut right to the chase with the all-caps headline: "The best female fighter ever."

Rousey (6-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) is coming off yet another dominant victory, defending her Strikeforce title for the first time with a 54-second armbar -win over former champ Sarah Kaufman last month in San Diego.

That win came on the heels of her title fight win over Miesha Tate in March, which took what for Rousey has become an almost crazy-by-comparison 4:27 to pull off.

The math is what makes that 4:27 crazy, of course. Rousey's three amateur opponents and five professional opponents outside of Tate lasted a combined 4:56 – an average of 37 seconds each. And as is well-known, all tapped to Rousey's signature armbar.

By Jayne Kamin-Oncea, US Presswire
While the MMA world has known for a while first of Rousey's potential, and then of her prowess, the mainstream world quickly is catching up.

The Californian appeared on the cover of ESPN The Magazine's famed "Body Issue" wearing nothing but pink hand wraps. She's graced the back cover of UFC Magazine. She appeared on Conan O'Brien's show. She guest-hosted on "TMZ Live" after her criticism of reality star Kim Kardashian hit the news in a big way. And in the buildup to her fight with Kaufman, Showtime aired a two-part All Access special on her.

Now Rolling Stone, the 45-year-old music, politics and culture magazine, has taken notice, too. Jesse Hyde's story references Rousey's thoughts on Kardashian, sure, but also says she has "proved she's the best female fighter in the world ... Partly because of her looks, and partly because of the lethal way she finishes fights, the bantamweight champ is forcing the powers that be in sports to pay attention to women's mixed martial arts."

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker believes Rousey has officially made the crossover into the mainstream. But he also believes the time may be coming soon when Rousey, like a select few athletes in history, could be a one-name star, a la Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. Rousey, Coker believes, could fill the role that last was thought to be for Gina Carano before Carano mostly left the sport behind to focus on an acting career.

"She's definitely on her way (to being a one-name star)," Coker told MMAjunkie.com. "She's so dominating right now. And I always tell everybody, 'Don't let the beauty fool you because this girl is a dangerous athlete, a dangerous fighter and a great martial artist.' ... But slowly and surely, the media has caught on to who this personality is.

"Gina was like the girl next door, the way I look at it. Ronda has that little edge on her. Or maybe a lot of edge on her is a better way to say it. She'll speak her mind. This girl has a lot to say and she's going to come out and say it."

Coker believes the kind of publicity Rousey commands now, just six fights into her pro career, is not something that can be orchestrated. And while it's a good thing for Rousey, which in turn is a good thing for Strikeforce -- despite the Rolling Stone piece not once mentioning the promotion Rousey fights for -- Coker is in position to sit back, watch and enjoy the ride.

"I think it's kind of happening organically, to tell you the truth," Coker said. "You can try to market somebody -- let's put this person on this show or that show. But this is a situation that has kind of unfolded organically, which has really been fun to watch. It's been one hit after the next. The success she's had in the media and outside the cage, it just keeps coming.

"These are things you can't just plan for – they're just happening. And that's going to continue. She's already one of the biggest stars in MMA, male or female, but she could become the biggest star in mixed martial arts."

For now, Rousey, who is not yet three weeks removed from her win over Kaufman, remains in a bit of limbo for what her next fight will be. The biggest talk is that former featherweight champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (10-1 MMA, 4-0 SF) could return from a yearlong steroids suspension in December, drop to bantamweight and face Rousey for the title.

But Coker believes Rousey won't want to wait that long. And then there's the matter of Cyborg perhaps not wanting to make the drop in weight, depending on which report is read. Coker said Strikeforce is committed to finding fighters who can test its champions, Rousey included, in the event that fight can't be put together for the next time Rousey gets in the cage.

But regardless of when Coker's biggest star returns, he knows he's dealing with a rare commodity.

"I think if you look at the success of Ronda, not just in the ring but outside the ring, she's one of those rare athletes in any sport that's crossed over," Coker said. "I think the Rolling Stone article and the ESPN The Magazine cover and the Conan interview she did, these are the things that athletes in all sports, whether it's football, basketball, baseball, swimming, track, whatever -- not many athletes cross over to where there's that much interest into what she's saying. Male or female. It's a testament to what she can do inside the ring and outside the ring."