Before Caitlin Clark, There Was Ronda Rousey, the Fighter Who Changed Women’s Sports

Before Cailtin Clark turned women athletes into a commercial force unlike anything seen before, there was Ronda Rousey.From 2011 to 2016, Ms. Rousey transformed herself from an Olympic medal winner into a global mixed martial arts superstar, elevating female fighters—and female athletes more broadly — from an afterthought to the main event.If Ms. Clark’s rise as a basketball phenom helped propel women’s basketball and women’s sports into an unprecedented era of commercial growth, Ms. Rousey was arguably the first athlete to prove women could be marketed as global sports icons on par with men.Her dominance inside the Octagon helped take the Ultimate Fighting Championship to new heights while reshaping public attitudes toward women competing in physically demanding sports.Kevin Iole, who covered mixed martial arts for 25 years before recently retiring, tells the Sun that Ms. Rousey changed stereotypes about women athletes. “When I was younger, the thought was women don’t watch sports and men don’t give a crap about women’s sports,” he said. “But because of Ronda, promoters and people who put on events realized men will watch women compete if they’re good and compelling and they also realized women liked sports and will watch if it’s presented to them the right way. Ronda opened up a door because promoters saw what was possible.”After nearly 10 years away from MMA, Ms. Rousey returns to the cage on Saturday night when she challenges Gina Carano, who hasn’t fought in 17 years, at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The bout promoted by Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions is scheduled for five five-minute rounds and will be streamed on Netflix.“This is a really special event,” Ms. Rousey, 39, said when her comeback fight was announced. “This is something that’s going to happen once in a lifetime in MMA. This is the beginning of something new.”Few could have predicted the scale of Ms. Rousey’s ascent when the bronze medal winner in judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics launched her MMA career with Strikeforce before the company was acquired by the UFC. Though UFC President Dana White once famously vowed not have female fighters, Ms. Rousey was the first signed by the company and the first Women’s Bantamweight Champion.Using her patented armbar to submit the majority of her opponents, Ms. Rousey made six straight title defenses, defeating her opponents by an average of less than three minutes. By then she achieved main-event status and “Rowdy” Ronda was just as big as any male UFC star.“Ronda literally became a cultural phenomenon,” Mr. Iole said. “I remember doing interviews and being asked if Ronda could beat Floyd Mayweather and all this kind of stuff. You don’t get that if you’re just a good fighter. No one is asking whether Caitlin Clark can beat Steph Curry one-on-one.”Ms. Rousey lost by knockout to Holly Holm in 2015 and then retired from the UFC in 2016 after being stopped by Amanda Nunes in the first round. Since then, she has made frequent appearances as a wrestler for WWE, becoming the first women to become champion in both the UFC and WWE as well as the only woman to headline a pay-per-view event for both companies.Her impact wasn’t limited to the cage. She appeared on the cover of numerous magazines and enjoyed starring roles in multiple major motion pictures. She also hosted Saturday Night Live and partnered with video game companies.“Ronda became a million-seller on PPV,” Mr. Iole said, “and she added huge value to the cards that she was on. There were women in other organizations and other sports, but they got zero notice. But once Ronda established what she was, then the other women started getting more mainstream attention.”Ms. Rousey inspired a generation of female athletes to enter combat sports, creating more opportunities for women competitors worldwide. She forced institutions and fans to take women’s sports as elite competition, earning respect for women athletes across many sports, not just MMA.The Caitlin Clark effect has taken it to another level, fueling record attendance, soaring television ratings, and unprecedented sponsorship and media rights deals. WNBA salaries are now at record highs and new professional leagues have been formed in hockey, baseball, and flag football. Female boxers have also gone from deep on the undercard to star attractions.“I think it’s getting to a point where it’s not a novelty to have women headlining events,” Mr. Rousey said during a press conference. “It’s becoming commonplace. Hopefully, it’s so common that it doesn’t even deserve mention. I think the ultimate goal is for women to have the same views and bring in the same revenue as the men and to be able to be compensated the same as them as well.”Ms. Rousey will reportedly earn about $5 million for her fight with Ms. Carano, 43, who will earn an estimated $2 million, easily the highest purses of their career. How competitive the bout will be given the lengthy layoffs for both competitors.But win or lose, Ms. Rousey’s return serves as a reminder of the athletes who first proved women could be not only elite competitors, but major commercial attractions in the business of sports.

Before Caitlin Clark, There Was Ronda Rousey, the Fighter Who Changed Women’s Sports

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