Rolling Stone has named unbeaten Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey the best female fighter ever, MMAJunkie reports. Rousey appears in the magazine’s September 12 issue.
Rousey (6-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) defended her title for the first time against Sarah Kaufman last month in San Diego, dispatching the former champion with an armbar in just 54 seconds. The 25-year-old became the bantamweight champion after defeating Miesha Tate 4:27 into the first round back in March in Columbus, Ohio, also by armbar.
The California native quickly started garnering attention from the mainstream media following her two explosive wins. She appeared in ESPN The Magazine ‘s “Body Issue” and on the back cover of UFC Magazine in July. Now she can add Rolling Stone to her growing list of credits.
Writer Jesse Hyde said Rousey has proved she is the best female fighter in the world “partly because of her looks, and partly because of the lethal way she finishes fights.”
Scott Coker, the CEO of Stikeforce, said Rousey has officially made the crossover into the mainstream and that she could fill the role that was meant for former middleweight champion Gina Carano. Carano was long considered the face of women’s MMA before leaving the sport in 2009. Coker told MMAJunkie :
“She’s definitely on her way (to being a one-name star). She’s so dominating right now. And I always tell everybody, ‘Don’t let the beauty fool you because this girl is a dangerous athlete, a dangerous fighter and a great martial artist.’ … But slowly and surely, the media has caught on to who this personality is.”
While Ronda Rousey’s next fight has yet to be determined, there is no denying that she is quickly becoming one of the rising stars of MMA, male or female.