1987–present
Who Is Ronda Rousey?
American mixed martial artist and actor Ronda Rousey is best known for her reign as the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion. Rousey endured a tough childhood marked by a speech disorder and her father’s suicide. She became a judo champion, earning back-to-back golds at the Pan American Championships and a 2008 Olympic bronze medal. Rousey turned pro in 2010 and became a Strikeforce champion before headlining multiple UFC premium events. She transitioned to pro wrestling, becoming a WWE superstar and one of only eight female Triple Crown champions. With her starpower, Rousey has also appeared in The Expendables and Fast & Furious movie franchises.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Ronda Jean Rousey
BORN: February 1, 1987
BIRTHPLACE: Riverside, California
SPOUSE: Travis Browne (2017-present)
CHILDREN: La’akea and Liko’ula
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Early Life
Ronda Jean Rousey was born on February 1, 1987, in Riverside, California. Born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, Rousey nearly died from a lack of oxygen and sustained slight brain damage. She exhibited signs of Childhood Apraxia of Speech, a rare speech disorder where a child’s mouth cannot make movements to form words, and didn’t speak until she was 6.
A tragedy fell upon the family when Rousey’s dad, Ron, broke his back while sledding with his daughters. A rare blood disorder prevented him from healing properly, and after learning he would be a paraplegic then regress to a quadriplegic in the few years he had left to live, he died by suicide when Rousey was 8.
Rousey struggled in class and was homeschooled for parts of elementary and high school, but she found an outlet for her frustration when her mom, AnnMaria De Mars, persuaded her to learn judo. A gold medal–winning judoka at the 1984 World Championships, De Mars began drilling her daughter in some of the sport’s fundamentals, most notably the dreaded armbar used to pin an opponent to the mat.
Judo Olympic Medal
Rousey was named to the United States Olympic team at age 15, and at 16 she became the youngest American to earn the national No. 1 ranking in the women’s half-middleweight division. Although she didn’t earn a medal at the 2004 Olympics, she claimed gold at that year’s World Junior and Pan American Judo Championships.
After defending her Pan American Judo Championship title in 2006, Rousey became the first American woman in 12 years to earn a World Championship medal by finishing second in the 2007 tournament. She then won gold at the 2007 Pan American Games, despite a torn knee meniscus. After earning the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, she retired from judo at age 21.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
Unsure of what to do in the wake of her judo career, Rousey worked as a bartender in Los Angeles and lived out of her car for a time. She eventually joined the Glendale Fighting Club and, in August 2010, made her amateur debut in mixed martial arts, a victory by way of an armbar after just 23 seconds. Two more amateur bouts ended via armbar submission after 57 and 24 seconds, respectively.
Rousey continued her run of domination after turning pro in the sport, reeling off four straight wins in under a minute apiece. In March 2012, she became the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion by defeating Miesha Tate in four minutes and 27 seconds.
By this point, Rousey had become a crossover star with her good looks and penchant for first trash-talking then brutally dispatching her opponents. She was featured on a cover of ESPN The Magazine’s 2012 Body Issue, and appeared as a guest on Conan O’Brien’s talk show.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
After one more speedy victory, Rousey was the first woman to sign with the UFC, the world’s largest mixed martial arts league. Designated Bantamweight Champion, she successfully defended her belt in the inaugural UFC women’s bout in February 2012, submitting Liz Carmouche via her patented armbar in four minutes and 49 seconds, her longest fight at that point.
In the summer of 2013, Rousey appeared in another photo spread, for Maxim. At the end of 2013, she won a rematch with Tate that extended to the third round, suggesting she was losing her touch as the dominant force of the UFC women’s circuit.
When she returned to the UFC octagon, Rousey won four consecutive first-round victories, two of them coming in under 20 seconds. However, her reign finally ended with a second-round knockout by Holly Holm in November 2015. The surprising loss sent ripples through the sporting world, and presented Rousey with her first serious athletic challenge since her days of competitive judo.
Over a year after her stunning 2015 loss, Rousey attempted a comeback on December 30, 2016, at UFC 207, facing off against reigning champion Amanda Nunes. However, Nunes defeated Rousey in just 48 seconds.
Rousey did not comment immediately following the stunning loss, but UFC president Dana White spoke about her reaction in an interview with ESPN’s SportsCenter: “I went backstage after and hung out with her for probably 40 to 45 minutes,” White said. “I’ll tell you this: She’s in better spirits this time than she was after the Holly fight. She’s very competitive. She does not like to lose. She loves to win, and she loves to do what she sets out to do.”
In June 2018, the UFC released a statement announcing Rousey would become the league’s first female Hall of Famer the following month. “This is an immense honor, to not only take part in bringing women to the forefront of this sport, but now the UFC Hall of Fame,” Rousey said in the statement. “May I be the first of many.”
Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano on Netflix
In February 2026, Most Valuable Productions—the fight promotion co-founded by influencer Jake Paul—confirmed Rousey’s return to the cage for a headlining bout against Gina Carano, the former Strikeforce competitor also known for playing Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian.
The main event and its undercard will take place May 16, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, and be broadcast on Netflix.
“Been waiting so long to announce this: Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest super fight in women’s combat sport history!” Rousey told ESPN in a statement.
Rousey told CBS Mornings she took the fight to rewrite the ending of her career, as she didn’t formally retire before leaving UFC. She has also suggested the fight will be her last, revealing she and husband Travis Browne wish to expand their family.
WWE Superstar and Champion
On January 28, 2018, following months of speculation, Rousey confirmed she was joining World Wrestling Entertainment with her surprise appearance at the WWE women’s Royal Rumble match.
“This is my life now,” she told an ESPN reporter afterward. “First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt.”
Although she didn’t rule out a return to mixed martial arts, the move all but signaled the end of her historic run as the sport’s first female superstar. “I’m happy for her. This is something she has always wanted to do,” said White, her former UFC boss. “Ronda continues to achieve everything she has ever wanted.”
Rousey’s WWE debut, at Wrestlemania 34 on April 8, 2018, was a successful one: Teaming with veteran wrestler Kurt Angle, the duo dispatched the husband-wife team of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in the Mixed Match Challenge, which ended with McMahon tapping out from a Rousey armbar. The following day, during Monday Night Raw, the newcomer further endeared herself to fans when McMahon attempted to kiss up to Rousey, only to get thrown to the mat for another armbar.
She adopted the nickname “Rowdy” in tribute to past WWE champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Wearing similar ring gear to the star and Piper’s actual leather jacket—with his family’s permission—Rousey won the Raw Women’s Championship by defeating Alexa Bliss at Summerslam in August 2018, and held the title until losing to Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania 35 in April 2019.
Rousey, who also suffered a broken hand in the loss, confirmed shortly afterward that she was stepping away from the ring indefinitely to focus on starting a family with Browne. Later, she disclosed that she had no intention to return to WWE on a full-time basis.
Returning in January 2022, Rousey won the women’s Royal Rumble match and challenged SmackDown champion Charlotte Flair at that year’s Wrestlemania. Although she lost at the annual showcase, Rousey bested Flair at the Backlash event to win the brand title. With her 2023 WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship victory alongside Shayna Baszler, Rousey became one of only eight female superstars to earn a Triple Crown championship—winning the Raw, Smackdown, and Tag Team titles.
Rousey took a break again later that year and confirmed in September 2025 that pro wrestling is in the “rearview mirror” in terms of her career.
Movies and TV Shows
As her MMA and WWE careers flourished, Rousey’s celebrity status allowed her the opportunity to act in a number of high-profile movies and television projects.
Rousey joined the ensemble cast of 2014’s The Expendables 3, appearing alongside action icons including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. She played a nightclub bouncer who is recruited to join a team of mercenaries. Soon after, Rousey appeared in the 2015 films Furious 7 and Entourage.
In August 2018, Rousey starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in the international crime thriller Mile 22, a story about a special CIA force tasked to protect a valuable intelligence asset from a group of terrorists.
The following summer, it was announced Rousey would be joining season 3 of the procedural drama series 9-1-1 as a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Also in 2019, she made a cameo as a fight instructor in the Charlie’s Angels movie reboot starring Kristen Stewart.
Husband and Children
Rousey married Travis Browne in August 2017 in Hawaii. Browne, a UFC heavyweight fighter, confirmed their relationship in October 2015 after the pair trained together at Glendale Fighting Club.
News of their relationship appeared while Browne was separated from his ex-wife, Jenna Renee Webb. The latter posted images to Instagram showing bruising on her arms, leg, and face in July 2015, and accused Browne of domestic abuse. According to Vice, the UFC conducted a third-party investigation and found there was no conclusive evidence of the allegations. Webb never filed formal charges, and she officially divorced Browne in 2016.
Rousey and Browne have two children together: daughters La’akea Makalapuaokalanipō born in September 2021 and Liko’ula Pā’ūomahinakaipiha born in January 2025. The MMA star is also a stepmother to Browne’s two sons from his previous relationship.
Rousey has spoken about how becoming a mother has changed her perspective and improved her mental health. “I’m just so much happier that I’m no longer ruminating over myself all day,” Rousey explained to People. “I think the best part about it is that it’s mentally made me more healthy and made me stop beating myself up so much because I’m so concerned with taking care of her.”
Net Worth
As of May 2026, Celebrity Net Worth estimates Rousey’s total fortune at around $14 million.
Rousey’s largest disclosed purse for a UFC fight is $3 million against Amanda Nunes in December 2016. That tied male fighter Conor McGregor for the then-largest in the promotion’s history.
Payment for her upcoming bout against Gina Carano hasn’t been disclosed, but Rousey revealed every fighter on the Most Valuable Promotions event card will make at least $40,000. As a headliner, her earnings are likely to be much bigger.
Quotes
- Easy lives result in boring people.
- If you can’t dream big, ridiculous dreams, what’s the point in dreaming at all?
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