It's Been Over 4 Years Since Ronda was Dethroned (Legacy Retrospective)

[Knockout_LR_Freshmart]

I know, you're already tempted to post Holm headkick gifs/memes galore, "she's weak", "she's fake", "can't handle real competition when WMMA caught up", or the redundant "who gives a shyt" that could be applied to every thread.

But... let's take a look back and have some real discussion on her career for better or worse.
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How did her defeated opponents fare in the MMA landscape after fighting her?

combined opponent post-Ronda record of: 59-35

How many world champions did she beat? (UFC/Bellator/Invicta/Strikeforce only)

3 - Miesha Tate (UFC/Strikeforce), Sarah Kaufman (Strikeforce/Invicta), Julia Budd (current Bellator)

Where does she rank all-time for title defenses?

6th all-time with 6 defenses, most for a female fighter ever with Nunes quickly approaching at 4

What other female records does she still hold?

most post-fight bonuses, fastest women's victory, most armbar finishes
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12-2 isn't a terrible record on paper, so where did she go wrong in public opinion?

despite most of her opponents having formidable careers after losing to her, and being so dominant, it wasn't what happened in the octagon that defines her legacy for most fans. the cowering image of somebody once considered the "baddest woman on the planet" will forever be etched into MMA followers minds, the airport pillow, hiding from general press obligations, unwillingness to adapt, the poor attitude.

with that said, can we really hold so much disdain for someone that near singlehandedly brought women's MMA to the mainstream? someone who's resume possibly holds up better than other MMA royalty (BJ Penn, Rashad Evans, Little Nog, Nick Diaz)?

Finally, does her attitude and undoing define her more than what she accomplished?

 

[Doctor Doom]

If Chuck Lidell/Tito Ortiz and especially Forrest fukking Griffin can be considered UFC legends, then Ron is above them.

Dominant champion and was putting legitimately putting asses in seats as a woman in a sport I didnt even know had a women's division.

 

[krackdagawd]

She beats Floyd though better athelte than Serena.

Media wasnt even hiding their bullshyt w her

 

[So UnThotful]

Rhonda was a trendsetter no doubt, so she is legendary in her own right

But Amanda Nunes should be consider the GOAT female MMA fighter. It's criminal how under promoted she is.

 

[Neo TheInsurrectionistONE]

So
..

And this is coming from an admitted casual

What went wrong with Ronda? Was she not that good and got exposed?

I always wondered what made her career tank so quick

Its almost embarrassing that she had to go from where she was to the WWE. To me that looked like a cop out. Join wwe so she doesn't have to get back in the octagon

 

[Knockout_LR_Freshmart]

So
..

And this is coming from an admitted casual

What went wrong with Ronda? Was she not that good and got exposed?

I always wondered what made her career tank so quick

Its almost embarrassing that she had to go from where she was to the WWE. To me that looked like a cop out. Join wwe so she doesn't have to get back in the octagon

She was an incredible judo practitioner but her striking skills were mid at best. She let one standup KO victory go to her head and she thought she could trade with Holm (a former boxing champ) and Nunes (who is complete in every facet of MMA). I can't hate because at the time she was seen as invincible, but they really had her on the cover of Ring Magazine after a single standup KO

When she lost her mental edge it was a wrap. I don't hate her like some, but it's pretty incredible how bad she took her downfall. If she was more gracious in defeat I don't think we'd even question her as a legend.

 

[Knockout_LR_Freshmart]

If Chuck Lidell/Tito Ortiz and especially Forrest fukking Griffin can be considered UFC legends, then Ron is above them.

Dominant champion and was putting legitimately putting asses in seats as a woman in a sport I didnt even know had a women's division.

Forrest & Chuck saved the UFC they're certified legends.

 

[Neo TheInsurrectionistONE]

She was an incredible judo practitioner but her striking skills were mid at best. She let one standup KO victory go to her head and she thought she could trade with Holm (a former boxing champ) and Nunes (who is complete in every facet of MMA). I can't hate because at the time she was seen as invincible, but they really had her on the cover of Ring Magazine after a single standup KO

When she lost her mental edge it was a wrap. I don't hate her like some, but it's pretty incredible how bad she took her downfall. If she was more gracious in defeat I don't think we'd even question her as a legend.

Wait wait wait... again casual here

You telling me she was getting all that hype and praise and movie deals off of one win??

 

[8====D]

RR gained fame via her "intimidation" mystique - when Holly Holm's destroyed that, RR was faneto! She was mentally broken after that.

She knew better than to come back and fight Amanda Nunes, but she let her fairweather fans trick her back into the ring. She lost again, and those fairweather fans jumped ship and it destroyed RR mentally.

Now she's attempting to rebuild that same "intimidating" mystique in the wrestling realm.

 

[ORDER_66]

holy shyt the mental break she was having when she làwst to Holly holms...

 

[Knockout_LR_Freshmart]

Wait wait wait... again casual here

You telling me she was getting all that hype and praise and movie deals off of one win??

Haha no, she had an 11 fight winning streak from submissions only and the last fight she won was a stand-up KO. That's when her fame reached fever pitch.

EDIT: she had 2 more TKO wins but they were after she took her opponent down/clinched

 

[Master Teacher]

dana white over promoted her and made her think she was better than she was, when reality came she couldn't handle it
she was a manufactured star like mcgregor

Gina Carano put women's MMA on, her and cyborg fight was on network TV UFC wasn't even on network TV at the time
if Carano wasn't a success Strikeforce would've never been able to Promote Ronda has a star, Dana White didn't even want to do Women's MMA until Coker made it work then he just took Ronda and pumped money behind her, but she never faced any strikers during her title run until Holm, and when she fought Nunes she was already mentally broken and Dana White pretty much forced her into that fight she did not want to be in there lmao

 

[Gains]

Holms let her clit hang

 

[newarkhiphop]

"Hype and Humility" will define her legacy she had a lot of the first and not much of the latter. Rhonda came in when ufc women's division was basically a sleep fest, she was facing meh type opponents and that's why was able to win with the same move back to back. Also why when more talented people came in she got rocked to sleep.

Conor is a good example of someone with much hype who took some losses in stride and outside of his shenanigans outside of the ring his legacy is still mostly in tact, Rhonda though took the the non humble route

 

[Lord Beasley]

Love or hate her, you can't discount what she did for women's mma. I'm sure there would've been someone else (wished to GAWD it was Miesha for obvious reasons ) but she was the face that put it on the map. Cyborg's face was too hard for that