Ronda Rousey is the one of the biggest stars ever in WWE and UFC, having conquered both worlds.
Rousey has won multiple world titles in WWE, and is the current Smackdown Women's Champion having defeated Liv Morgan at Extreme Rules last weekend.
Expect Ronda to be a huge part of WWE's future and in a marquee match at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles.
Despite of all of her success, there's probably a reasonable amount fans still need to know about "Rowdy", so GiveMeSport takes you through 10 things you didn't know about Ronda Rousey...
She was the first US woman to win an Olympic medal in Judo
Rousey began judo at the age of 11. This led to her competing at the 2004 Athen Olympics just six years later. At the next Olympics in Beijing, Ronda defeated Annett Boehm to land the bronze medal, making her the first women to win a Judo medal since its inception as an Olympic Sport in 1992.
She was the first woman signed by UFC
Having retired from judo after the Olympics, Rousey decided to train MMA. In 2012, it was announced she was UFC’s first female fighter following the company’s absorption of Strikeforce, where Ronda had been Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Ronda Rousey was UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion for over 1,000 days
She has the most successful UFC title defences of any female
As a result of the absorption, Rousey became the first UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. She successfully defended her title on six occasions, a UFC female record. Her title reign lasted just under three years, totalling 1074 days.
She is the only woman in UFC Hall of Fame
Continuing her trailblazing impact in the male-dominated world of professional fighting, Rousey became the first and only women to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018. Unlike WWE, UFC’s Hall is extremely exclusive, with just 41 inductees thus far.
Her ring name was given to her by a WWE legend
Rousey originally opposed the “Rowdy” nickname given to her by friends as she felt it was disrespectful to one of her idols Roddy Piper. After meeting Piper, he personally gave his approval to use the nickname.
Ronda Rousey was the first women to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated
She appeared on WWE TV long before signing a contract
Rousey and fellow MMA fighters-turned-wrestlers Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir had dubbed themselves “The Four Horsewomen” in 2014. The group were acknowledged at WWE events, notably when in the front row of SummerSlam that same year. She later debuted at WrestleMania 31 alongside The Rock.
She is the only woman to fully conquer both UFC and WWE
Rousey has been dominant in both UFC and WWE worlds, capturing titles in both companies – Bantamweight in UFC and Raw and Smackdown titles in WWE. She has also headlined pay per views for both companies, a nod to her mainstream appeal.
She was the first women to feature on cover of a men’s magazine
Adding to this, Rousey became the first women to feature on the cover of men’s sports magazines, notably Australia’s Men’s Fitness and Sports Illustrated, the latter describing her as the most dominant athlete in the world.
Ronda Rousey starred as herself in the Entourage movie
She is a video game lover
Like many professional wrestlers, Ronda is a huge video game fan. She has voiced the character of Sonya Blade for the Mortal Kombat video game.
Her movie career features several big features
Such is her mass appeal; it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling. She has featured in several movies, playing characters in Furious 7 and The Expendables 3, as well as herself in the Entourage movie.