Ronda Rousey; Cinema, Modeling, and Championship in the World's Toughest Sport

Ronda Rousey, the American female star in mixed martial arts, needed only 34 seconds to defeat her Brazilian opponent and defend her championship title, retaining the UFC belt. Rousey achieved this victory in front of thousands of Brazilian spectators and tens of millions of television viewers. Before the match, Bethe Correia had stated that her mother asked her to break Rousey's jaw. However, what added excitement, sensitivity, and controversy to this match was not the threat of breaking a jaw but a jab at Rousey's father's suicide, which Correia mentioned on her Twitter account. Rousey responded on her official Twitter, stating that suicide is not a joke and emphasized that when she brings Correia to justice, her father will be with her. After her victory, she also remembered her father and expressed hope that this would be the last time someone speaks about her family issues. At first glance, she may seem like a star from the fashion or cinema world, and indeed she has a background in both fields. However, she is primarily the most famous female champion in one of the toughest sports in the world. A week earlier, she had been named the U.S. Athlete of the Year, surpassing stars like Serena Williams in tennis, Lindsey Vonn in skiing, and Breanna Stewart in basketball. She has 3.5 million followers on Instagram and 5 million on Facebook. MMA has rapidly become one of the most popular individual sports globally, attracting champions from boxing, judo, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and of course, wrestling, and due to its significant popularity worldwide, it has become one of the most lucrative sports. Rousey won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics. Her mother was also the first American woman to become a world judo champion. She then turned to mixed martial arts, known as MMA. After joining this new sport, she often finished her matches in a short time, now holding a record of 12 victories and no losses, and is a key symbol of the UFC, which organizes the most important competitions in this sport. There are also unique aspects about Rousey. The timing of her matches with those of men causes their competitions to be overshadowed by her presence. In all professional matches, her opponents have never been able to last until the end of the fight and have all been knocked out. Of her 12 professional fights, only three lasted more than a minute. Her previous fight with Cat Zingano did not go beyond the 14th second.