Ronda Rousey 8th On Forbes’ Highest Paid Women In Sports List, Still Shops At Walmart

UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is an outstanding fighter – there’s no question of that – but it seems she is also one of the best paid women in the sports world.

According to UFC president Dana White, Rousey is the UFC‘s biggest star, but she is not the highest paid female athlete in sports. Forbes says that honor goes to tennis superstar Maria Sharapova. Between paydays for competitions and endorsements, Sharapova has raked in $29.2 million. Rousey netted $3 million in fight winnings and $3.5 million in endorsements for Reebok, Metro PCS, Monster headphones, Buffalo David Bitton and Carl’s Jr.

Given that Rousey broke into the UFC only three years ago, these figures are very impressive, and Rousey has also demonstrated she has incredible crossover appeal. With appearances in films like Expendables 3 and Fast and Furious 7, Rousey has shown she is more than willing to do the work needed to be a well-rounded success.

She has shown that she is more than willing to make time for her fans, too. Between a recent Q&A she participated in on Reddit and shopping in a local Walmart, Rousey has a legion of fans that are interested in meeting her and taking even a second to talk to her. Just ask Crystal Fuentes, who ran into the UFC Women’s champ in an Alice, TX Walmart.

According to Fuentes, Rousey was “so nice and so down to Earth” and took time to take pictures with her fans. Rousey was gearing up for a fishing trip and was looking for a fishing license at the local Walmart.

While it is nice that Rousey is taking the opportunity for some downtime, she is continuing to make headlines because of ongoing taunts from Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino and Rousey’s claim that she could beat boxing champ Floyd Mayweather in a no-holds barred fight. Surprisingly, Rousey‘s rival Miesha Tate, whom she’s faced in the octagon twice before, has backed Rousey’s claims.

“I agree with her,” said Tate. “Floyd is a great great boxer, but boxers meet in the center and agree to box, when you take that away and someone rushes in and the ref doesn’t break up the clinch for you and you don’t know how to wrestle or stop a throw, I’m sorry he’s going down and from there she would armbar the hell out of him.”

Rousey has a busy few months ahead of her. She will be training for her next matchup, which looks to be against Tate after she completes her work on her current film project. Rousey has continued to have a full schedule between filming, fights and endorsements, which can only mean the UFC superstar could find herself on a higher position on the Forbes earning list.

(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Entertainment)