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MMA

Meet Ronda Rousey, the UFC's first female champion

We have a new champion.

RONDA ROUSEY IS the best female MMA fighter in the world and UFC champion after Saturday night.

She’s also a model, a trash-talker, and an Olympic medalist. She has everything it takes to be a mainstream sports star. Here’s everything you need to know about her before she becomes a star.

Meet Ronda Rousey, the UFC's first female champion
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  • She made it to her first Olympics in Athens, but didn't medal. In 2008, she went to Beijing and won a bronze in judo

  • But afterward, she had no job to fall back on - 'They give you a couple grand, a handshake and they kick your ass out the door.'

  • She took a graveyard shift at a 24 Hour Fitness in California while trying to figure out what she wanted to do

  • In 2010, she returned to fighting at an MMA gym in Los Angeles. She said, 'I need to win and I need to do this quick because I'm tired of living with the cockroaches and eating frozen vegetables.'

  • In just seven months, she went from an out-of-work ex-Olympian to a professional MMA fighter, winning her first fight in 25 seconds

  • In her fifth career fight, she won the Strikeforce bantamweight title and became the sport's most recognizable name for her borderline offensive trash-talking

  • She once said about her next opponent - 'If I get her in an armbar, I'm gonna try to rip it off and throw it at her corner'

  • She also trashed talked Michael Phelps and Kim Kardashian, saying Kim was only famous for her sex tape

  • After that, her popularity skyrocketed when she landed on the cover of ESPN's Body Issue

  • But despite the newfound fame, women's MMA still didn't make her a lot of money. She told SI about her financial situation, 'I couldn't retire, but I'd be chilling for a while.'

  • In October, the league she worked for, Strikeforce, announced it would shut down in 2013

  • The UFC scooped her up immediately, making her the first female fighter ever.

  • Her first fight was Saturday night against Liz Carmouche in San Diego

Published with permission from
Business Insider