Ronda Rousey's Mystique is Gone. Forever.

by Julian Spivey
The Ronda Rousey mystique is gone. Forever. Period.

I won’t get technical here because I can’t call myself a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) or MMA (mixed martial arts) fan. Saturday night’s UFC 193 event from Melbourne, Australia was only the third or fourth UFC event I’ve ever watched. I’m not really a fighting sports fan in general. But, I think that gives me a unique viewpoint on why Rousey’s major upset loss to Holly Holm late Saturday night was essentially the end of the reputation that Rousey and the MMA and sports media have created for her.

The upset was the biggest in UFC history, according to UFC President Dana White, and it was so because Rousey had been billed as an unbeatable perfect athlete.

That’s the entire reason why I wanted to make sure I caught this fight. Many times before I had passed up opportunities to watch Rousey fight, but with each and every easy victory her legend became bigger and bigger and it didn’t seem she would ever lose. This made her the greatest athlete in sports that I’d never seen compete and that had to be corrected. So, I made plans (when I say that I mean I invited myself over) to join my friend Jon at his house on Saturday night to see this legendary physical and athletic specimen with my own eyes.

To say that Rousey is the UFC or the sport of MMA would be ridiculous and ignorant. But, to say she’s the most important figure within the sport for both its current state and the future of it is certainly not an understatement, especially when according to a Nielsen survey 44 percent of Americans knew Rousey by name, when only 12 percent of Americans could even name another MMA fighter.

Rousey is the face of the UFC and mixed martial arts, as proof of her being the cover face of the new EA Sports UFC video game. Rousey is the lone MMA fighter making the rounds on late night talk shows and she’s turned her success inside the octagon into a successful film career, as well.

Recently Rousey had likely surpassed Serena Williams as the greatest female athlete in the world and won the fan-voted ESPY award for Female Athlete of the Year this summer.
I’ve no doubt she will continue to be a terrific athlete and UFC star, but her mystique, legend, importance and level of greatness was obliterated in a matter of six minutes, barely over one UFC round on Saturday night by a commanding performance from Holly Holm, who absolutely owned every second of the fight against Rousey from the opening bell until she finally knocked her out with a kick to the face just 59 seconds into the second round.
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Rousey was hailed as the perfect, unbeatable athlete and Holm made her look like absolute crap on Saturday night. Rousey’s entire reputation and brand was built on this perfect and unbeatable image and that was blown all to hell by Holm. The dominance from her entire career, a perfect 12-0 record, was shown that it could be penetrated. Rousey is not flawless after all. I don’t think any athlete truly is, but few have ever seemed to be hailed as such as much as Rousey has.

What’s to be seen is if Holm’s fantastically dominant and intriguing upset of Rousey will be good for the UFC and especially women’s mixed martial arts in the future? Rousey was the entire face of women’s mixed martial arts and it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the sport thrives knowing she isn’t perfect. It could turn out to be even more successful knowing that it’s not just going to be dominated by one athlete. It could also turn out to do worse if it turns out that people were only intrigued by Rousey’s dominance and her Hollywood-style good looks that aren’t often seen in the world of women’s sports. Hopefully the sports viewing public doesn’t prove to be that sexist or ignorant.

I went into Saturday night’s fight wanting to see the one great athlete in this country that I’d yet to see live with my own eyes. Like everybody else I felt Rousey would be dominant and cruise to her 13th consecutive win in her career. Instead I saw the exact opposite – the unthinkable happened and a living legend at only 28 years of age was brought down by the flawless execution by Holm. It was enthralling to see, especially knowing what the moment meant for Rousey, the UFC and all of the sports world.

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