Is Ronda Rousey Becoming The New Gina Carano In Women's MMA?

Is Ronda Rousey Becoming The New Gina Carano In Women's MMA?

By Aman Sehdev

Strikeforce fighter, Ronda Rousey is fast becoming a rising star in the world of women's MMA, drawing comparisons to the semi-retired "face of women's MMA" Gina Carano.


Rousey, a 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist in Judo has torn through her competition at a much higher and impressive rate than Carano, going 4-0 in her young MMA career, with all four wins coming in less than one minute in each contest. All of her victories (including three amateur bouts) have been in stunning fashion and come by way of an armbar submission, including dislocating Julia Budd's arm at a Strikeforce Challengers bout in Novemeber 2011 in the co-main event. She is becoming the most talked about female fighter since Carano.
Currently Rousey fights in the 145 pound Featherweight division but has announced plans to drop down to 135 to challenge Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate, in a fight eagerly anticipated within a sport with few marketable fights and fighters.
One bonafide star in women's MMA that is the measuring stick for all female fighters is currently on hiatus from fighting as she promotes her starring role in the upcoming movie, Haywire. Gina Carano was the first female MMA fighter to break into the mainstream due to a combination of her fighting ability and sultry good looks. Carano was part of the first MMA show on CBS in 2008 for the now defunct Elite XC which was the most watched MMA show in network television history (until the UFC on Fox showdown between Cain Velasquez vs Junior Dos Santos).
She also main evented a Strikeforce event on Showtime in 2009, battling Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for the newly created women's Featherweight title - the first time women had headlined a major MMA event. Although Carano lost, she had already cultivated a growing fan base for herself, including being a most searched person on Google and Yahoo in 2008 and regularly charting highly on Maxim's Hot 100 list and posing for publications such as GQ and Maxim.
The mainstream world was taking notice and she garnered a starring role in Haywire, alongside Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Channing Tatum. This along with other outside projects has kept her fighting career on hold, but she has spoken of a desire to return to fighting soon.
There are many differences between Rousey and Carano. Rousey is a much more brash and outspoken person and her Olympic pedigree make her a better rounded fighter. Rousey's victories have been quick and decisive, yet both have been praised for their exciting styles. Rousey has courted controversy for her comments about looks in MMA, stating, "I think it's very important for there to be good-looking girls fighting." Whilst Carano never explicitly stated that her looks were getting her far in her career.
With Carano away from the fighting world it has allowed Ronda, Tate and Santos to emerge as challengers to the throne atop women's MMA. Women's MMA is facing major hurdles in attempting to gain recognition as a legitimate, money-making sport. The line between sex appeal and athletic ability in marketing women's MMA has been blurred in recent years with the emergence of good looking, but ultimately talented fighters such as Carano, Rousey and Tate.
Sarah Kaufman, who was believed to be next in line to challenge Miesha Tate for the Bantamweight Title has accused Rousey of using her looks to get her ahead. "She's had a couple impressive wins, and really fast, and then just told people, 'I'm pretty so I deserve it (a title shot)." Rousey is well aware of this criticism and has stated on numerous occasions that she would be happy to fight Kaufman first before a title fight with Miesha Tate to silence doubters of her ability.
Rousey is a much more marketable opponent for Tate than Kaufman, she has the charisma, talent, hype and looks that can attract more viewers than Kaufman. The added dimension of her Olympic background make her an attractive proposition for mainstream outlets. Strikeforce has the biggest matchup in women's MMA since Carano vs "Cyborg" Santos to promote and it would be foolish not to capitalise on it.
The sport of MMA in general is becoming more of a business and each company looks to create stars and put on the best fights that will draw the biggest audiences. Rousey-Tate is becoming the most talked about rivalry in women's MMA, intensified by their heated exchange on The MMA Hour radio show which you can view here:http://www.mmafighting.com/mma-hour/page/2.
Tate claims Rousey hasn't earned a title shot, yet Rousey believes they can build the anticipation of the fight that will be more marketable than Tate vs Kaufman.
Ronda Rousey has all the ingredients to succeed and gain similar opportunities that Gina Carano got. If Rousey can beat Tate in their rumoured bout for the Bantamweight Championship it will make her the biggest star in women's MMA. "Cyborg" Santos' recent one year suspension and stripping of her Featherweight Title for a positive steroid test has shone the spotlight ever brighter on Rousey as the "new face of women's MMA". A moniker that she relishes, "I want to be the most talked about girl in women's MMA. If there's a lot of controversy, people saying I suck, I'm cocky, or it was a good fight or an amazing move -- as long as there's polarizing opinions and people want to discuss it."
Whether you like it or not a female fighter needs a combination of good looks, charisma and talent to make it in a male dominated sport. Carano had those and has transcended the sport to become a mainstream star making movies. Carano, in a recent interview with popular MMA journalist, Ariel Helwani indictaed she is impressed with Rousey's MMA career to date, "She is so talented, it's great for our sport to have someone from the Olympics, I have a lot of respect for her". Rousey is well on her way to emulating Carano's success inside and outside the cage, and if Carano does return it could lead to a Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano mega fight that would capture the public's interest and would go some way to revealing who is the biggest star in women's MMA.
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