Ronda Jean Rousey (born February 1, 1987 in Riverside, California) is an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, former Olympic judoka and actress. She was the first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, as well as the last Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.
Rousey is the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in Judo, which she did at the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008. She is perhaps the most well-known female fighter in the world (eclipsing former MMA fighter Gina Carano), notably the only woman in history to win a championship in both the UFC and WWE and headline a PPV event for both companies. She became a household name for her incredible performance in MMA, where she amassed a 12-0 record with all but one of her matches ending in the first round, and 7 of them via her signature armbar.
On November 15, 2015, her undefeated UFC streak came to an end at the hands (or, rather, the foot) of Holly Holm in what's been called the biggest upset in sports since Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in 1990. She took a 13-month hiatus from the sport afterwards, returning on December 30, 2016 to face then-current champion Amanda Nunes. She lost the fight via TKO in just 48 seconds, all but confirming the end of her MMA career.
Rousey currently streams on Facebook Gaming
and has a YouTube channel where she uploads content including judo tutorials, vlogs, and skits. She got engaged and married to UFC fighter Travis Browne in 2017; their first child, a daughter named La’akea Makalapuaokalanipõ, was born on September 27, 2021.
She also dabbles in acting, mainly appearing in action-oriented media for obvious reasons.
For tropes related to her wrestling career, check her dedicated page.
She appeared in:
- The Expendables 3
- Furious 7
- Entourage
- Blindspot
- Mile 22
- Mortal Kombat 11 (voicing Sonya Blade)
Badass Woman on the Planet Tropes:
- Action Girl: All of her movie roles tend to take advantage of her combat experience.
- Action Mom: She has one daughter.
- Glass Cannon: How she plays in UFC 3, especially if controlled by the computer. She is not good at dodging shots, and can't take as many of them as the other top tier women in the game— and she is particularly susceptible to head kicks. However, if you don't dodge her shots you'll be on the ground before she is. As for going to the mat with her, don't— she has max level armbars from almost every position and brutal ground and pound.
- Hot Teacher: During one of her SNL skits she was this during a storyline with one of her male students.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Strongly resembles Sonya who she voice acts in MK11.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Kicks ass in movies in dresses and other fine clothing, such as Furious 7.
- Kubrick Stare: Revealed on Ellen that when she first learned her trademark Death Glare, she was taught the fundamentals of this trope: to tilt her head down and look up. Downplayed currently; her glares only occasionally come with the extra tilt.
- Renaissance Woman: In addition to her martial arts career, she has also done acting and professional wrestling.
- Self-Deprecation: In a commercial she appears in, she's taking questions from the press and one of them asks her when she's going to start making better movies.
- Take That, Critics!: Her entrance music in UFC, Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation", is basically a shot at critics who accuse her of having an attitude problem and henceforth a, well, bad reputation.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: It's practically her favorite word.
- When She Smiles: Ronda's ability to switch between this and a Death Glare at the drop of a hat is unreal. She has a beautiful smile and seems cheerful for the most part, until she's competing, or sometimes just when talking about competing.
