Ronda Rousey has done what few have been able to in the world of sports and entertainment. “The Rowdy One” has competed at the highest level in both the UFC’s Octagon and the WWE ring. Rousey is the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, who helped pioneer women’s mixed martial arts (MMA).
She then transitioned to professional wrestling in WWE, where she was involved in the first-ever women’s match to main event a WrestleMania. Although she was defeated in the match, Rousey will live on in WWE history forever. Speaking with Megan Olivi in an interview for the UFC’s YouTube channel, Rousey compared the two.
In regards to which stage feels bigger, Rousey claims her UFC debut against Liz Carmouche back in 2013 felt bigger than her WrestleMania main event in April (via MMA Fighting):
“[WrestleMania] felt big, it’s just I think it just has to do with the time, with the perspective. Me and Liz Carmouche, it felt bigger to me,” Rousey said. “Even though it was years ago and not as many people watched and it was in the Honda Center, which maybe holds like 16 to 20 thousand compared to WrestleMania, where it was in front of like 80,000 people and millions of people watching.
“I just felt like me and Carmouche was the most pivotal moment, where everything had to happen that way or else women’s MMA would have ended before it started. With WrestleMania, it just felt like all the stars were aligned and the whole universe was conspiring for us to succeed and I had not a single doubt in my mind that we would.
“But for Carmouche, it was so many outside factors of like, the numbers had to do well and I had to win the match, but I had to win the match in an exciting way. There were just so many other different factors that I had to worry about and I feel like the stakes were higher in a way even though the venue and the audience was smaller.”
What do you think about Rousey’s comments on the UFC vs. WrestleMania?
