12 years ago this week, Ronda Rousey made her UFC debut and changed MMA history forever as she became the first-ever female athlete to win a fight in the promotion.
In February 2013, a very special UFC event was held in Anaheim, California – headlined by former Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey and popular veteran Liz Carmouche.
Not only did UFC 147 represent the first-ever women’s title fight in the promotion, but it was actually the first time that two female MMA fighters had locked horns under the UFC banner.
Despite suffering an early scare in which she suffered a gruesomely injury, ‘Rowdy’ certainly didn’t disappoint – it’s time to look back at when history was made.
Ronda Rousey made history as the first-ever female UFC winner
After Zuffa LLC purchased Strikeforce in 2011, Ronda Rousey made her promotional debut in the main event of UFC 147 against Carmouche.
Whilst Rousey was widely expected to walk through ‘Girl-Rilla’ with relative ease, her first-ever fight under the bright lights of the UFC banner couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
Within 40 seconds of the very first round, Carmouche would expertly reverse Rousey as they scrambled against the side of the cage and found herself riding the back of her heavily favored foe.
“I rushed this takedown, I was trying to rush to put everything in,” Rousey later explained in a watch-back interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“I had the option to pull her into my guard or stand up and give up my back. And since the guard is one of Carmouche’s best positions, I felt that giving up my back was a better [option].”
“I can defend a choke with no hands no problem,” she narrated, watching Carmouche attempting to lock in a standing rear-naked choke – then she heard something pop.
“That’s when I felt my sinuses popping and that’s when my guard came out and ripped my whole mouth open… She was pulling so hard up into my mouth that she got my top row of teeth on her arm.”
Despite having “dislocated my jaw,” and feeling that her mouth guard had “ripped the whole inside of my mouth,” Rousey managed to throw Carmouche off her back and after another scramble, ended up in top position herself.
“She’s trying to throw her legs over my head and that was her mistake,” noted the future Hall of Famer with an eager grin on her face; just a few seconds later, she’d wrapped up Carmouche’s arm and secured yet another armbar submission victory.
Not only did Rousey become the first-ever women’s UFC champion that night and the first-ever female fighter to get her hand raised inside the famous octagon – but it was also the moment that redefined her championship mentality.
“That was the moment I realized that I was willing to die in order to win this fight; I was ready to be a quadriplegic to win that fight – it was that important to me that I didn’t care if I broke my neck.”
Dana White and UFC fighters react to Ronda Rousey’s debut win
At the time, there were plenty of uneducated fans criticizing the UFC for putting a women’s fight at the top of a PPV billing – Dana White would fire back at the post-fight presser.
“It’s 2013, I never expected such goofy backlash from people. What’s awesome is the way the media handled this fight. The mainstream media was awesome. It got the respect it deserved.
“SportsCenter was tweeting all night about the fight. They’ve never done that before. It was on the front page of CNN, Sports Illustrated, the way the media treated this fight was amazing and those two went in and delivered tonight.”
Rousey’s accomplishment was celebrated across the MMA world, with a whole host of well-known names hailing both the result and what it meant for the sport as a whole.
Tony Ferguson called the event a “memorable experience,” Sean Shelby noted that it was a “pretty amazing moment in time,” whilst submission ace Demian Maia teased “I need to learn those armbars.”