Ronda Rousey elevated into a superstar during her iconic UFC run between 2013 and 2015. She became one of the biggest draws in the promotion by defending the UFC women's bantamweight title five times against top competition like Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano, and Liz Carmouche.
Rousey's loss to Holly Holm was a huge upset, though. It was followed by her absence from the sport for over a year, and upon her return, she suffered another loss to Amanda Nunes.
While MMA fans are still divided over Rousey's abrupt retirement after the loss to Nunes, Dana White has all the praise in the world for her...
Dana White Explains How Ronda Rousey's Greatness Led To Her Downfall In The UFC
White recently appeared on The Big Podcast by Shaquille O'Neal and revealed his top three favorite UFC fighters to work with. Off the top of his head, he named Chuck Liddell and Rousey and then unsurprisingly mentioned Conor McGregor.
My two all-time favorites, the two people that were the best ever to deal with and that I absolutely love, Chuck Liddell, Ronda Rousey. Ronda Rousey is the greatest athlete I've ever worked with, by 100 miles, okay. And then, Conor McGregor has been a great athlete to work with for me.
However, the UFC President highlighted that "Rowdy" has been his favorite athlete to work with by far. He appreciated the former UFC champ's willingness to do big things in life and take on any responsibilities thrown at her.
White remembered that Rousey never backed down from a challenge. While the rest of the women's bantamweight fighters were solely training to beat the champ, she took part in various ventures that helped the company.
When asked what made "Rowdy" special, here's what he had to say:
She ended up becoming so big and so popular that she took on so many different things at the same time. Meanwhile, all the other women in the division are just training to beat Ronda. Exactly, right, you break Ronda down and you just figure out how to beat Ronda. Ronda took everything on her back and carried it and she would never say no to anything.
The UFC CEO then claimed that Rousey's aim to keep achieving also affected her career. Had she been more focused on just fighting like the rest of her competitors, she might've been able to extend her remarkable title defense streak further.
Like countless MMA enthusiasts, White credited Rousey for popularizing women's MMA and opening his eyes to its true potential.