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Fifteen minutes with Ronda Rousey
Why no women
Dana White's reason was practical. At that point he was still trying to sell men's fighting to networks and sponsors, and he had no interest in adding women's fights to the pitch.
Fifteen minutes
Then Ronda Rousey grabbed him at an event, gave her name, and asked for fifteen minutes. They went into his room at the arena, and she came in with full bravado and a chip on her shoulder. Minutes into the conversation, he was thinking that he was going to do this, and that she was the one to do it with.
A class of her own
Years later, with plenty of people eager to tear her down, he still calls Rousey a unicorn and puts her in a class of her own alongside Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
How did Rousey become famous before the UFC?
Rousey won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first American woman to medal in the sport. She then turned to mixed martial arts and won the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title in 2012. Her signature finish was the armbar, a judo joint lock that hyperextends the elbow, and she used it to win most of her early professional fights.
How did women's UFC fights begin?
The UFC announced a women's bantamweight division in late 2012 and named Rousey its first champion. She headlined UFC 157 on February 23, 2013, in Anaheim, California, against Liz Carmouche, the first women's bout in UFC history. Rousey won by armbar in the first round.
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