Top MMA fighters of the decade, 2010-2019: Ronda Rousey ranked No. 7

The 2010s, arguably the most important decade in the history of mixed martial arts, is coming to a close. One reason why the past 10 years have been so pivotal to the sport is the sheer talent that exists across all divisions – men and women, from flyweight (which didn’t even exist until February 2012) to heavyweight. Simply put, the number of great fighters to grace cages and rings across the world never has been higher.

Here at MMA Junkie, we’ve put together a staff-wide, composite ranking of the top 10 fighters of the past decade, which we’ll reveal Monday-Friday until Dec. 27. Today, we reflect on No. 7: Ronda Rousey.

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Extolling the greatness of Ronda Rousey at the end of 2019 is clearly just asking to be criticized, but trying to wipe away her impact on the sport is clearly just being misinformed.

The story is well-told by now: UFC president Dana White was adamantly opposed to having women compete in the octagon until meeting Rousey, who changed his mind. While the story is true, it’s also worth noting that Rousey had competed four times already for the Zuffa-owned version of Strikeforce, so matchmaker Sean Shelby and the powers that were in charge of that organization deserve a little praise for convincing White to take a chance on the future UFC Hall of Famer.

Regardless, the risk was instantly rewarded. The attention that surrounded Rousey was evident from the start. She drew the mainstream media attention that so many of her male counterparts were unable to secure, landing magazine covers and featured slots on talk shows both in and out of the sports realm.

It was clear to me that the Rousey move was a success before she ever set foot in the octagon. I remember being at open workouts for UFC 157 in Southern California at a massive UFC gym and looking out at the crowd of fans gathered in attendance and seeing something I had never seen before at these sessions: massive sections of moms and daughters gathered to watch.

Rousey’s competitive drive was unquestionable. When she was first introduced to the media as a UFC fighter, White awarded her a UFC belt by virtue of coming in as the reigning Strikeforce champion, similar to what he had done with Jose Aldo when the UFC absorbed WEC. Rousey didn’t want to touch it. She wanted to win the belt, not have it handed to her, and she only reluctantly draped it over her shoulder for photo ops at White’s continued insistence.

Rousey was tested in her UFC debut, with Liz Carmouche proving the perfect foe for “Rowdy” in her first octagon appearance. But Rousey showed her grit, battling out of a terrible situation and actually submitting Carmouche in the first – by armbar, of course. And once victorious, that’s when the legendary pre-fight scowl was transformed into the equally legendary (multi) million-dollar smile.

In her next fight, a UFC 168 clash with fierce rival Miesha Tate, Rousey showed the world what she could be at both her best and worst. The performance in the cage was fantastic, constantly pressuring an incredibly durable Tate until she was forced to relent to a third-round armbar. The two had warred since their days in Strikeforce, and Tate looked to bury the hatchet after, but Rousey refused. It wasn’t theatrics. Similar to the Diaz brothers’ insistence of never making friends with someone in their bracket, Rousey wasn’t interested in making good with someone she considered an enemy.

Rousey tore through her next few opponents, collecting four straight “Performance of the Night” awards with victories that averaged less than 33 seconds each. She was a superstar, drawing comparisons to the legendary Mike Tyson for her quick-finishing abilities, even if she preferred the submission game rather than “Iron” Mike’s destructive striking.

Her influence on the sport continued to be evident in the demographics interested in her fights, as well. I remember being at an open workout in Las Vegas ahead of Rousey’s UFC 175 bout with Alexis Davis and watching young girls shaking and crying as they took pictures with their hero. It was like watching vintage footage of The Beatles touring the U.S.

Behind the scenes, the media circus surrounding Rousey was out of control. She did her best to fulfill as many interview requests as possible, and the UFC was all too happy to see her do it. Rousey was capitalizing on the moment, and she was clearly the biggest star in the sport, but the pressures of being the unbeatable blonde beauty were clearly weighing her down.

In the days leading up to UFC 193 in Australia, there were beliefs among experts that Holly Holm was going to be the perfect stylistic challenge for Rousey – a long, mobile striker who would prove difficult to corral and could make you pay for your mistakes. But with Holm not exactly lighting the world on fire in her two bouts before challenging for the belt, questions remained.

Rousey, typically a stoic picture of pent-up aggression at weigh-ins (the classic weigh-ins, where fighters were still cranky, hungry and dehydrated when they faced off), appeared uncharacteristically shaken in Melbourne, and the world certainly took notice. The next day, the public still largely assumed Rousey would win, but there was a definite curiosity factor that hadn’t existed in her past few appearances.

Holm was near-perfect from the start, flashing constant movement and scoring several big left hands that busted up Rousey’s nose and left her visibly frustrated, perhaps even somewhat overwhelmed, for the first time in her MMA career.

In the opening minute of the second round, Rousey staggered forward, falling to a knee on a missed punch and bouncing into the fence. The audible gasp in Etihad Stadium was telling. At that moment, 56,000 people knew Rousey was done. Just seconds later, the assumption was proven correct, and Holm staggered Rousey with a left hand before a vicious left high kick sent the UFC’s biggest draw crashing to the canvas.

Rousey didn’t talk to the media that night. It wasn’t so much a health concern, where fighters are sometimes transported to a hospital for precautionary reasons. Rather, it was because she was inconsolable in her locker room. UFC officials, obviously respectful of everything Rousey had done for the organization to that point, were understanding of her unwillingness to face the public following defeat – despite the fact that the six women “Rowdy” had downed in the octagon all did exactly that.

Did she owe it to the public? To the media? I don’t think so. Every athlete has the right to handle themselves the way they choose. But when she didn’t show up at the post-fight press conference in Melbourne, I had real concerns that public sentiment would change – and it did.

Rousey remained largely silent for the next 13 months, even avoiding all traditional fight-week responsibilities in the lead-up to UFC 207, where she was scheduled to return against the hard-hitting Amanda Nunes. It proved a terrible matchup for Rousey, and Nunes finished her in just 48 seconds.

Again, Rousey declined to address the media post-fight, and it would be the last time she would ever set foot in a UFC cage.

Rousey’s final 13 months in the sport have left a sour taste for many. Consider how Conor McGregor was praised for the way he handled himself in defeat following his loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196 – just four months after Rousey lost to Holm. There’s something refreshing about fighters who have reached rarefied air showing humility when they are brought back down to earth. Rousey never gave us the opportunity to see that side of her.

Nevertheless, Rousey’s impact on the sport cannot be understated. I had a chance to call some of her amateur fights under the Tuff-N-Uff banner at the beginning of the decade, fighting in a tiny ballroom as “Judo” Gene LeBell manned a stopwatch to keep track of how quickly Rousey was dispatching opponents (none of them lasted more than a minute). What she accomplished in a career that lasted just five years is nothing short of remarkable.

Sure, Rousey wasn’t the first prominent female in the sport. Names like Shayna Baszler, Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen, Cris Cyborg, Megumi Fujii, Julie Kedzie, Tara LaRosa, Erin Toughill, and many more all deserve to be discussed when laying out the history of women in MMA. But Rousey was the one who got them all over the finish line and into the biggest promotion in the sport. For that, she is absolutely one of MMA Junkie’s top fighters of the decade..