10 years ago, the UFC landscape looked remarkably different from how it looks today. GSP was barely removed from his redemption performance against Matt Serra, Cain Velasquez had yet to conquer the Heavyweight Division, and the UFC just had its first event in Canada. Back then the idea of women competing inside the octagon for the UFC seemed like a dream that wouldn’t come true. Dana White, President of the UFC, had stated few things as permanents: Tito Ortiz would never get another chance to fight in the UFC, Steve Mazzagatti is the worst referee ever, and that women would never compete in the UFC. Flash-forward to now, and we are a day away from UFC 224 which is a fight card headlined by the pound-for-pound best in her division, Amanda Nunes.
To say Dana was wrong about his early assessment of women mixed martial arts inside the UFC is an understatement, and Dana is the first to admit that he was wrong. Over the years, we have witnessed WMMA climb to heights no one could have predicted. Here are our Top 5 historic fights and moments that solidified how incredible WMMA is.
No. 5. The Era of Cyborg begins.
Cris “Cyborg” Santos is one of the most feared Featherweight fighters on the planet today. Not just in WMMA, but in the whole sport alone. Watching her fights can be equivocated to watching a hurricane of violence. “Cyborg” has an incredible tendency to make even the most experienced of her opponents look as if they are out classed. For years it would seem as if the dominance of the “Cyborg” would only be witnessed outside of the UFC, mainly due to the stubborn nature of UFC brass when it came to introducing a Women’s Featherweight Division.
Eventually the inevitable happened and the division was formed, and the first blockbuster signing was of course Cris Santos. Fans were eager to see her demonstrate her prowess inside of the octagon and it didn’t take long for her to do so, and to take her position at the top of the division. While her fights against Tonya Evinger and Leslie Smith helped her establish her dominance over the 145 division, it was her performance against former Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm that solidified the “Cyborg Era” was here to stay.
No. 4. “Thug Rose! Thug Rose! Thug Rose!”
Rose “Thug Rose” Namajunas is the UFC’s most humble and dominant champion currently. When you watch her fight inside the octagon, it is obvious that fighting is in her blood. Ever since her appearance on the Ultimate Fighter it was clear that Rose was among the best in the world in the UFC’s Strawweight division. Her career in the UFC didn’t start out as well as Rose would have hoped, losing her first outing for the Strawweight Championship against Carla Esparza. Namajunas wouldn’t let the loss define her, as she would put together incredible performance after incredible performance until her fate would find her fighting for the UFC Strawweight Championship once more.
This time Rose would be put up against the test of her career in the Strawweight Division’s then champion, Joanna Jędrzejczyk. Joanna was considered by most to not only be the division’s best fighter, but one of the best fighters in the world. With a champion as menacing as Joanna, it’s easy to see why Rose was the underdog going into the bout. It only took Rose 3 minutes to shake up the world, and finish Joanna with strikes inside the octagon. Rose’s amazing performance was solidified by the awesome reaction from Daniel Cormier, who was so impressed by Rose’s win that he shouted “Thug Rose! Thug Rose! Thug Rose!”. Drawing obvious comparisons to WWE’s iconic announcer Jim Ross when Steve Austin would hit the ring, Daniel’s passion while calling the fight was the extra icing on the cake on such a historic fight.
No. 3. The kick heard around the world.
In one of the more bittersweet moment’s in UFC history, we look at once of the biggest losses that completely changed the landscape of the Women’s Bantamweight Division. The fight is none other than Holly Holm vs “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey and at the time, both fighters were both riding incredible undefeated streaks in the sport. However, Ronda’s streak felt larger than life, due to the way she broke barriers and paved the way for WMMA inside of the UFC. All streaks must come to an end, and the sport of MMA is very unforgiving in that regard.
A well-placed kick would cement Holly Holm into UFC history and put her atop the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Division, the kick would also be one of the contributing factors to the retirement of Ronda Rousey. The kick itself set off a chain of events that would see Ronda taking her first loss, and many thought that with her defeat she also lost the will to continue in the sport. This was more evident after her performance against now champion Amanda Nunes, signifying the end of Rousey’s MMA career.
The kick would put Holm into the spotlight that unfortunately she wouldn’t be able to hold on for long. In her first ever defense of the Bantamweight Championship, she would come up on the losing side against Meisha Tate, long-time rival of Ronda Rousey. The Bantamweight Championship would change hands again shortly after, as current Champion Amanda Nunes defeated Tate to claim the throne. The question now is if Nunes can continue her dominance, or if she too will taste the stinging loss of the Bantamweight Championship.
No. 2. Joanna Champion.
Ronda Rousey tore through the Bantamweight division and quickly made WMMA must watch television for UFC fans, and with the popularity of WMMA inside the UFC growing, so came more divisions. The first division introduced after the Bantamweight division was the exciting Strawweight division. The division started off great, but it was apparent that fans were looking for the division’s own Ronda. At UFC 185 the wishes of the fans were answered as they witnessed the star of Joanna Jędrzejczyk emerge.
It only took 2 rounds for Joanna “Violence” to earn her nickname as she put on a master class performance against then champion Carla Esparza. Fans quickly gravitated to Joanna as she continued her journey of destruction through the Strawweight division. With an intimidating stare down and unbelievable striking skills, JJ took the UFC world by storm, mounting an incredible career of title defenses and fight performances. Joanna Champion might have come up short against new rival, Rose Namajunas, but she is still one of the sports most entertaining fighters to watch inside the octagon. There is no doubt that she isn’t done making history yet.
No. 1. Enter Rousey.
“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey gets quite a bit of hate from the MMA media as of late due to her decision to leave the world of the UFC for the WWE. This might come across as a bit of a fluff piece for Ronda but given all the she has done and accomplished in the UFC, she deserves it. MMA media and fans can be a fickle bunch, as some opinions can change on a fighter hastily; whether due to a loss, a short coming, or something as a failed drug test. We can be quick to mock fighters mere minutes after they come up short in a devastating loss, without taking the time to think about what the fighters might be going through at that moment. Usually the more acclaim a fighter has, the more hate they receive, and for the most part it’s unjustified. Ronda isn’t a fighter that escapes critique by any means, but after her losses she didn’t deserve the mocking she received. From personal insults about her father, to insults diminishing every accomplishment she had ever made, Ronda saw it all as far as hate from social media goes.
When we take the time to look at her career though, as fans we should be ever grateful for what she was able to accomplish. It was her trail blazing that lead to Dana White bringing WMMA into the UFC, a decision which White has said if it weren’t for Ronda wouldn’t have happened. Whether it’s new divisions or champions crowned, or amazing fights we get to witness, WMMA has become a staple of the UFC that we couldn’t think of living without. For those moments, we owe a debt of thanks to Ronda.
Ronda isn’t without her own historic moments within the UFC, as she produced some all-time classics in her UFC run. Whether it was her war with Meisha Tate, or her dominant “blink and you missed it” performances against Cat Zingano and Alexis Davis, Rousey was mesmerizing inside the octagon. She could capture the hearts of fans by showing her nerdy goofy side in interviews with the media, and she could send chills down your spine when she would make her walk to the octagon. Her accomplishments in the UFC played quite a roll in the Women’s revolution in the WWE too, with many women wrestler’s admitting what Ronda did for women in the UFC was inspirational. To see that come full circle is amazing to say the least. WWE fans are quite the lucky bunch and from the jaded world of MMA it is special every time we see Ronda on WWE television with a smile on her face. If Ronda never steps inside an octagon again, we thank her for all the she has done.