Let’s REVIEW: ROWDY RONDA’S RESUME

[BFoe]

​

Hooray for alliterative thread titles.

It was just about 5 years ago, on December 30, 2016, that Ronda fought the last fight of her MMA career, a TKO loss to Amanda Nunes. With that 5 year anniversary approaching, and Nunes’ recent loss, I think it’s a good time to review her resume, take a look at Ronda’s place in WMMA history, and along the way bust some pervasive Ronda myths that I see around Sherdog.

For any MMA fans who are nerdy like me and care to see her resume broken down opponent by opponent, I will put that in Spoiler tags.

Spoiler: Ronda’s resume, opponent by opponent

WINS:

Ediane Gomes: Ronda’s debut fight was against Gomes, who was 6-1 at time, with the sole loss bring to Amanda Nunes. Gomes retired in 2017 with an overall 11-4 record. No elite wins, but does have wins over Leslie Smith and Hiroto Yamanaka FWIW.
Ronda beat her in 25 seconds.

Charmaine Tweet: this was Tweet’s debut fight, and it was at 150 pound catchweight. Tweet’s career is rather unremarkable although she did go on to be the Prestige FC FW champ with a victory over Jessy Miele. She retired in 2017 with a 9-6 record overall.
Ronda beat her in 49 seconds.

Sarah D’Alelio: 4-1 at time. 11-7 overall, has submission wins over Vanessa Porto and Andrea KGB Lee, and a decision win over Amanda Nunes.
Ronda beat her in 25 seconds.

Julia Budd: 2-1 at the time (loss was to Nunes, but was coming off victory over GDR). 16-3 overall, Budd was the first Bellator FW champ, which she defended successfully 3 times. She is currently 16-3 overall; she has wins over GDR, Arlene Blencowe x 2, Marloes Coenen, and Jessy Miele. Her only losses are to Rousey, Nunes, and Cyborg.
Ronda beat her in 39 seconds.

Miesha Tate: This was Ronda’s first BW fight, and Miesha was SF BW Champ. Miesha was 12-2 at time, with losses to Kaitlin Young and Sarah Kaufman. Miesha was on a 6-fight win streak at the time, coming off of sub win over Marloes. 19-7 overall, Miesha is a former FCF Bantamweight champ (1 defense), SF and UFC BW Champ (no successful defenses, losses to Ronda and Nunes). She has wins over Coenen, Kedzie, Carmouche, McMann, Jessica Eye, Holly Holm, Marion Renau.
Ronda beat her in 4 min 27 seconds. In fights that Ronda won, this is fight is the 3rd longest.

Sarah Kaufman: Is highly decorated, having been HCF WBW champ (1 defense), the first ever Strikeforce WBW champ (1 defense), and later going on to win the Invicta WBW title (left Invicta for PFL before defending). At the time of the Ronda fight, Kaufman was 12-1. Her lone loss was the loss of that belt, to WMMA legend Marloes Coenen (SF BW title fight), and she already had wins over Davis x 2, Letourneau, Miesha, Baszler, Roxy (title defense), and Carmouche. She’s 21-5 overall, after losing to Ronda went on to beat Leslie Smith x 2, Pannie Kianzad, Jessica Rose-Clark, and Jessy Miele, among others.
Ronda beat her in 54 seconds.

Liz Carmouche: 8-2 at the time, 16-7 overall. Wins over Valentina Schevchenko, Kaitlin Young, Jessica Andrade (next fight after Ronda), Lauren Murphy, Kaitlyn Chookagian, Jennifer Maia, and Vanessa Porto.
Ronda beat her in 4 mins 49 seconds, the 2nd longest winning fight of Ronda’s career.

Miesha Tate: She was 13-4, having gone 1-1 since the first Rousey fight. Miesha was coming off of loss to Cat Zingano, and stepped in to coach TUF opposite Ronda after Zingano knee injury.
Ronda beat her at :58 of Round 3, making it the longest fight of Ronda’s career.

Sara McMann: 7-0 at the time, she is now 12-6 overall. Wins over Evinger, Baszler, Murphy, Eye, Davis, and Lansberg.
Ronda beat her in 1 min, 6 seconds.

Alexis Davis: was 16-5 at the time and on a 5-fight win streak. She is the former Raging Wolf WBW champ (2 successful defenses). She 20-11 overall, with wins over Letourneau, Evinger x2, Kedzie, Amanda Nunes, Shayna Baszler, Rosie Sexton, Liz Carmouche x2, Jessica Eye, Sarah Kaufman, and Sabrina Mazo.
Ronda beat her in 16 seconds.

Cat Zingano: Cat is the former ROF WFLW and ROF WBW champ, as well as the former FTW WFLW and FTW WBW champ. She was 9-0 at the time, 8 of which were by stoppage (had stoppage wins over Pennington, Miesha, and Nunes before fighting Ronda). She is 12-4 overall.
Ronda beat her in 14 seconds.

Bethe Correia: 9-0 at time with wins over Kedzie and Baszler. Also has wins over Eye and Eubanks, 11-6-1 overall.
Ronda beat her in 34 seconds.

LOSSES:

Holly Holm: 10-0 at the time w wins over Finney, Pennington, and Renau. 14-5 overall, additional wins over Bethe, Megan Anderson, Pennington again, and Irene Aldana. Losses are Miesha, Schev, GDR, Cyborg, and Nunes. Holly is the former Legacy FC WBW and UFC WBW champ.
Holly beat Ronda at :59 of Round 2.

Amanda Nunes: 13-4 at the time. 4 losses were to Ana Maria, Sarah D’Alelio, Cat Zingano, and Alexis Davis. 21-4 overall, wins over Vanessa Porto, Julia Budd, GDR x2, Baszler, McMann, Schevchenko x2, Miesha, Pennington, Cyborg, Megan Anderson, Holly Holm, and Spencer. The consensus WMMA GOAT, Amanda is the former UFC WBW champ (5 defenses) and current UFC WFW champ (2 successful defenses so far).
Amanda beat Ronda in 48 seconds.

For those who prefer some career Cliffs, here’s a few:

• Ronda has an overall record of 12-2. Every single one of Ronda’s fights ended in a finish.
• Of Ronda’s 12 wins by finish, only one opponent has made it past the first round.
• Ronda has 7 title defenses (1 Strikeforce WBW, and after that was promoted to UFC WBW Ronda had 6 more defenses). For comparison, that is the same number of title defenses Nunes has with her WBW and WFW combined, more than Valentina (she has 6) and more than Joanna (she has 5).
• Ronda has defeated 3 former or future champs from major orgs (“major orgs” being defined for this thread as Strikeforce, UFC, Bellator, and Invicta), and 6 former champs when all orgs are considered. For comparison, Amanda has 10 (when all orgs are considered), Valentina now has 8 with Peña’s win, and Joanna also has 6.

LET’S SHIT ALL OVER SOME RONDA MYTHS

Myth 1: Ronda is a “one trick pony.” Apologies for being rude—but if you believe this, please go watch more MMA.
This idea comes about because of her many armbar wims, as if all armbars were the same, and all armbar setups are the same (they aren’t). Ronda has wins by straight armbar, belly-down armbar, flying armbar, whatever-the-fuck-that-was-that-she-did-to-Zingano armbar…
Truth: What Ronda was, was an Olympic-level grappler who could transition to armbars from a wide variety of positions.

Spoiler: Not the same trick

Myth 2: “Ronda is a pioneer. The “Royce Gracie” of WMMA.”
I don’t think that people who say this, do so to disparage her. But it’s just not true, and it does a disservice to both Ronda and the pioneers of WMMA.
Truth: Ronda went pro in 2011, guys. Strangely, no one says this about Amanda Nunes (debuted 3 years earlier, in 2008) or Juliana Peña (debuted 2 years earlier, in 2009). If you want to give respect to the WMMA pioneers, that’s fighters like Marloes Coenen and Yuuki Kondo (both debuted in 2000), or Shayna Baszler (2003) or even Megumi Fuji and Roxanne Modafferi (2004). Ronda is just a specialist—just like Khabib, Maia, Werdum, or other high-level grapplers who transitioned to MMA.

Myth 3: “Ronda never evolved”/“Ronda is uncoachable.”
Of course she evolved. Ronda came from a pure grappling background, and has 3 (T)KO wins. And each of them was different. In the lead up to the McMann fight, ol Edmund told us that Ronda was dropping sparring partners with body shots—the exact way she ended up winning the McMann fight. Ronda also had Alexis Davis basically out on her feet with a nice overhand right, and face planted Correia.
Truth: Ronda’s striking did evolve, and she is certainly coachable—one doesn’t get to be an Olympic medalist of one is uncoachable. Unfortunately, she did not have a coach or a camp that could help her become an elite striker.

Spoiler: Ronda (T)KOs

Myth 4: Ronda beat “soccer moms” and lost when “real fighters” showed up.
Well, Ronda only has 2 losses. I guess that means Nunes is a “real fighter,” but Sarah D’Alelio, Alexis Davis, and Cat Zingano aren’t? Does Nunes know that?

Spoiler: Nunes getting stopped by “not real fighters”

I guess that means Holly is a “real fighter,” but Miesha isn’t. Interesting take.

Spoiler: “Not real fighter” Miesha choking Holly unconscious

Truth: Ronda has a great resume and set of accomplishments. She has beaten 6 former/future champs, has 7 title defenses, and destroyed 3 fighters who beat Nunes in seconds.

So let’s put some hespect on Ronda’s name.
Was the Ronda hype a bit much? Sure.
Is her personality polarizing AF? Definitely.
But she had a great career, and deserves to be recognized as one of the best WMMA fighters to ever do it.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Brave thread. In b4 purple pillow.

 

[w00t]

Mommy Ronda beats Nunes in a rematch. Nunes' kryptonite is soccer moms.

 

[Captain Insano]

Holy wall of text

 

[HockeyBjj]

Rousey was basically a female Royce Gracie

 

[RogerB08]

She also never actually beat a champion or won a fight for a vacant title. She had a coronation.

 

[Strijfy]

cool thread ...in before all the fat, misogynist, virgin neck beards with serious women issues, come oozing out of the excrement with the opportunity to rant their vitriol in another thread about Ronda.
Edit ...decent thread though OP... it will unfortunately turn into a shit show.

 

[Deleted member 585708]

LET’S SHIT ALL OVER SOME RONDA MYTHS

Myth 2: “Ronda is a pioneer. The “Royce Gracie” of WMMA.”
I don’t think that people who say this, do so to disparage her. But it’s just not true, and it does a disservice to both Ronda and the pioneers of WMMA.
Truth: Ronda went pro in 2011, guys. Strangely, no one says this about Amanda Nunes (debuted 3 years earlier, in 2008) or Juliana Peña (debuted 2 years earlier, in 2009). If you want to give respect to the WMMA pioneers, that’s fighters like Marloes Coenen and Yuuki Kondo (both debuted in 2000), or Shayna Baszler (2003) or even Megumi Fuji and Roxanne Modafferi (2004). Ronda is just a specialist—just like Khabib, Maia, Werdum, or other high-level grapplers who transitioned to MMA.

I don't understand your logic here.

"Pioneer of WMMA" doesn't mean "first to ever do it", it means "first to explore new territory". Royce Gracie might not be the right comparison, but come on now... to say Ronda Rousey isn't a pioneer is crazy!

There are levels to this game, as the old cliché goes, and Ronda was literally THE reason Dana finally allowed WMMA on to UFC broadcasts. You don't get to be much more of a pioneer than by embarking upon a quest for - and discovering - virgin territory. Marloes Coenen didn't make the UFC dream happen, Yuuki Kondo didn't, neither did Shayne, Megumi or Roxy. Ronda was the fighter that opened that door for every female that's ever fought in the UFC, so she was absolutely the front runner and a legendary one at that. She put the flag in the ground, and it still stands there to this day, as part of the UFC's massively extensive video library.

If Stephan Bonnar vs Forrest Griffin was a pioneering fight for the UFC's embarkation on a quest to capture a mainstream audience by being broadcast on free-to-air TV, Ronda was the sole WMMA leading a charge into the most prestigious, richest, and deepest waters in the world of mixed martial arts.

 

[Simple Southerner]

For starters
Pioneer of WMMA



But also

One of the best WMMA fighters of all time (top 5)

 

[Tapioca Cold]

She also never actually beat a champion or won a fight for a vacant title. She had a coronation.

And then kicked ass until she became a global phenomenon. Keep crying.

 

[pamirec]

Honda is the Hoyce Gracie of WMMA and that’s not about being the first. There were fighters who had fought way before Royce debuted.

 

[BFoe]

cool thread ...in before all the fat, misogynist, virgin neck beards with serious women issues, come oozing out of the excrement with the opportunity to rant their vitriol in another thread about Ronda.

Thanks brother, much appreciated.
I know a lot of people are gonna shit on the thread, and some people have preconceived notions that just aren’t going to change no matter what I say. Appreciate you dropping by!

I don't understand your logic here.

"Pioneer of WMMA" doesn't mean "first to ever do it", it means "first to explore new territory". Royce Gracie might not be the right comparison, but come on now... to say Ronda Rousey isn't a pioneer is crazy!

There are levels to this game, as the old cliché goes, and Ronda was literally THE reason Dana finally allowed WMMA on to UFC broadcasts. You don't get to be much more of a pioneer than by embarking upon a quest for - and discovering - virgin territory. Marloes Coenen didn't make the UFC dream happen, Yuuki Kondo didn't, neither did Shayne, Megumi or Roxy. Ronda was the fighter that opened that door for every female that's ever fought in the UFC, so she was absolutely the front runner and a legendary one at that. She put the flag in the ground, and it still stands there to this day, as part of the UFC's massively extensive video library.

If Stephan Bonnar vs Forrest Griffin was a pioneering fight for the UFC's embarkation on a quest to capture a mainstream audience by being broadcast on free-to-air TV, Ronda was the sole WMMA leading a charge into the most prestigious, richest, and deepest waters in the world of mixed martial arts.

Good post.
Ronda was certainly instrumental in getting WMMA in the UFC, there’s no doubt about that. I would never take that accomplishment away from her. I was referring more to her being a pioneer in the sense that Royce was (a fighter who some compare Ronda to): that she somehow built WMMA as Royce largely built modern MMA (which, as I said, is not accurate in Ronda’s case), or only got by because of weak competition in the “dark ages”—when 2011 wasn’t really the dark ages of WMMA.
But I agree with you that “pioneer” can mean “first to explore new territory,” so if we’re discussing WMMA in the UFC as that territory, then yes she qualifies as a pioneer in that sense.

 

[BFoe]

She also never actually beat a champion or won a fight for a vacant title. She had a coronation.

What do you mean, she never beat a champion? The UFC WBW title was the Strikeforce WBW title, which she beat Miesha for. Much like Jose Aldo’s WEC FW belt became the UFC FW belt. No difference at all.

 

[BobsyaUncle]

One of the biggest compliments you can give her is every single one of her 14 MMA fights was 10/10 for entertainment.

 

[Ares Black]

Holy wall of text

Except that it isn't a wall of text?

It has paragraphs and section headings. It even has bullet points FFS.

 

[Ares Black]

Rousey was basically a female Royce Gracie

She was a much better striker.

 

[RogerB08]

What do you mean, she never beat a champion? The UFC WBW title was the Strikeforce WBW title, which she beat Miesha for. Much like Jose Aldo’s WEC FW belt became the UFC FW belt. No difference at all.

So they were both treated special. Meanwhile, a guy like Condit who never lost his belt in the cage didn't even get a unification bout.

 

[BFoe]

So they were both treated special. Meanwhile, a guy like Condit who never lost his belt in the cage didn't even get a unification bout.

I wouldn’t have had a problem with a Condit unification bout. But it’s a stretch to say Aldo and Rousey were treated special. Condit’s division existed in the UFC at the time, Aldo and Ronda’s divisions did not. In both cases, the UFC purchased the orgs they were in, incorporated their divisions, and simply made the WEC and Strikeforce belts the UFC belt. Shouldn’t be controversial.
Same thing happened with Cruz’s WEC BW belt.

 

[mmacrisis]

You have to give her credit for being the pioneer but definitely not one of the best. Time and place really matter when you put things in perspective. Once she came across skilled fighters, she got crushed. Happens to everyone eventually.

her standup was a cluster f@ck, she couldn't take a punch and her one trick only worked on women who didn't have much else to offer.

 

[TheChance]

She also never actually beat a champion or won a fight for a vacant title. She had a coronation.

Uh she beat Tate for the strikeforce title...