Ronda Rousey documentary part of ESPN 'Nine for IX' shorts
Ronda Rousey hits Liz Carmouche during their UFC bantamweight title fight at Honda Center on February 23, 2013 in Anaheim, California. Credit: Getty
For the well-versed fan of mixed martial arts, the Ronda Rousey short film that premiered on espnW.com on Monday may not deliver any new information.
But that's not the intended audience here with "Rowdy Ronda Rousey," a 14-minute short film that is part of ESPN's "Nine for IX" series. That doesn't make Rousey's story any less compelling, either. An Olympic judo bronze medalist in 2008 -- the first American female judoka to ever win a medal -- Rousey talks about how she lost her way after the Beijing Games, only to find MMA and turn the male-dominated sport and scene on its head.
"To me, she's a new kind of heroine," co-director Rena Mundo Croshere said in a director's statement, "and that's the takeaway of the film."
The documentary spans Rousey's judo career and goes through her first fight in the UFC. Rousey won that fight, beating Liz Carmouche, to make her first defense of the UFC women's bantamweight title. That was the first women's MMA fight in the UFC, and it just so happened to headline the UFC 157 pay-per-view card on Feb. 23, 2013.
"I felt like that if I lost that fight, there'd be no women in the UFC," the undefeated 27-year-old Rousey said in the film. "And I felt like if I won that fight and the pay-per-view numbers weren't good, there would be no women in the UFC."
She won. And the pay-per-view numbers were good. Very good. The UFC, a private company which never releases specific numbers on pay-per-view buys, said the buy rate for Rousey's debut was higher than the biggest women's PPV event to date -- Laila Ali vs. Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. That fight reportedly did more than 100,000 buys.
This film, given its platform on espnW.com and on ESPN on Aug. 2 at 2:30 p.m., should introduce Rousey to a new audience.
A few of the more telling quotes, regardless of your familiarity with Rousey already, are below:
Rousey's mother, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars, on the death of Ronda's father: "I almost think that everybody who's a successful athlete has to feel like there's something missing they want to fill."
Rousey on creating an interest in her early fights: "I somehow needed to make my fights personal to the people watching it. I needed people to disagree about it. I needed there to be talk."
Rousey on women's MMA now and in the future: "We might be the Alis and the Fraziers running around right now, but I hope there's Mayweathers and Pacquiaos waiting after we're done."
Rousey (10-0) defended her title on July 5 with a 16-second knockout of Alexis Davis. She co-stars with Sylvester Stallone and others in "The Expendables 3" which opens Aug. 15.
