After plenty of speculation and unconfirmed reports over the past weeks, it became official Friday that the meteoric rise of mixed-martial-arts superstar Ronda Rousey will now be a historic one.
“It’s official,” Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White told Jim Rome on “The Jim Rome Show,” “Ronda Rousey did sign with the UFC.”
The news was originally reported by TMZ on Nov. 8, but Rousey was tight-lipped about the unconfirmed news. After White confirmed it Friday, the undefeated Strikeforce bantamweight (135 pounds) champion chimed in on Twitter.
“Okay I admit it...I’m officially a @ufc fighter,” Rousey tweeted. “SO excited! Can’t wait to debut! Let @danawhite know who you want my 1st opponent to be!”
Thus, Rousey, 25, has become the first female fighter to sign with the UFC, the world’s preeminent MMA organization.
Rousey, who trains at the Glendale Fighting Club under the tutelage of Edmond Tarverdyan along with at Team Hayastan under Gokor Chivitchyan and Gene LeBell, has risen through the ranks to become the top-ranked women’s fighter by most accounts and has quickly blossomed into one of the top MMA stars, no matter gender, in the world.