When you think about Mike Tyson, 51, dominating the boxing ring, you probably don't put Ronda Rousey, 30, in that same category, despite what she has accomplished for the women's division of the UFC. Going toe-to-toe, her record outshines some of the most dominant men in the UFC.
Dana White sings high praises
Rousey has made no official appearances or statements since UFC 207 when she suffered a TKO loss in 48 seconds to Amanda Nunes. Rousey, who holds a 12-2 MMA and 6-2 UFC record, beats out Conor McGregor in Dana White's eyes in the role of the UFC's Mike Tyson.
White has no problem praising Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey, the former UFC women's bantamweight champion. Dana recently appeared on Mike Tyson's debut podcast, "Bite the Mic." White, a long-time friend of the heavyweight boxing champion, was asked which fighter had an impact comparable to what "Iron Mike" did for the boxing world.
White's answer was unexpected
Many may have assumed Dana White's answer would have been the UFC's current lightweight champion, Conor McGregor. There was also the possibility White may have mentioned some of the other stars who walked the UFC path before him.
Ronda Rousey went on a 12-0 career run, including six consecutive UFC title defenses in which the fights were stopped.
Rousey's career stopping losses included fights against Holly Holm and the most recent at UFC 207 against Amanda Nunes. This was Ronda's last fight in the UFC.
Rousey's achievements include being the first woman to earn the Olympic medal (bronze) in judo. She won the 2000 summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2004, at the age of 17, Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, becoming the youngest judoka in the entire Games.
In 2006 she became the first female U.S. judoka in 10 years to win an A-level tournament.
At the age of 19, Ronda went on to win two Junior World medal,s making her the first U.S. athlete ever to do so. In 2007, Rousey took home the silver medal in the World Judo Championship and the gold medal in the 2007 Pan American Games.
Her UFC titles are well known but don't forget Ronda was the last Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight champion. She has been voted as one of the sport's most dominant female athlete and an ESPN poll voted her the Best Female Athlete in 2015.
As if those accolades were not enough, in January 2017, Ronda Rousey was ranked the No. 4 female bantamweight fighter in the world by the UFC. She was voted the No. 9 female fighter by Sherdog.com. In 2015, Rousey was the third most searched person on Google and in that same year, she was the highest paid UFC athlete.
Ronda Rousey has paved the way for the female athletes in the MMA world. Given these titles, it is easy to see why Dana White named her the UFC's Mike Tyson.
According to White, there was just an "aura of invincibility" about Rousey, just like Tyson. She was a force to be reckoned with in the UFC, the same as Tyson was in the boxing world.
Conor McGregor is scheduled to take on Floyd Mayweather in a 12-round boxing match on August 26. Connor is the UFC's star of the moment, but White says he will never take Rousey's place as the Mike Tyson of MMA. White says McGregor is a "different" type of MMA star.
Rousey may have left the UFC and the world of MMA, but it seems she is transitioning into the world of WWE as a professional wrestler. According to WWE commentator, Jim Ross, Rousey and the WWE are a "match made in heaven."
