2015 was the Year of Ronda Rousey and it featured both her rise to super-stardom and her fall from grace at the hands (or more accurately the feet) of Holly Holm. It was a whirlwind year for the athlete, and too often words fail to capture the dizzying highs and terrible lows we witnessed. So this time we thought it might be best to feature her story through the lens of a camera. Here’s Ronda’s 2015 as told in photos.
The year started off with a fight in February: Ronda Rousey took on No. 1 contender Cat Zingano in what was considered to be her toughest match-up to date.
But Rousey made quick work of Zingano, who tried to land a flying knee but instead fell right into a Rousey throw and armbar. The fight took a mere 14 seconds, setting a UFC record for fastest title fight in the history of the sport.
After that match, the Ronda Rousey hype train left the station and quickly gained full steam. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion made a surprise appearance alongside the Rock in what was later dubbed the Moment of the Year by wrestling fans.
Rousey also made a return to the big screen, following up on a role as part of the Expendables by playing a villain in Fast & Furious 7. She also appeared in the movie adaptation of Entourage, and landed Patrick Swayze’s role in the gender-swapped reboot of Road House.
She also became a best-selling author, with her autobiographical book My Fight / Your Fight topping the bestsellers list despite being pulled from the shelves of Wal-Mart over her association with cagefighting.
Rousey also cleaned up at the ESPY Awards in 2015, winning the Best Female Athlete Award and beating Floyd Mayweather for the Best Fighter Of The Year award, which he had won three years running. “I wonder how Floyd feels being beaten by a woman for once?” she famously quipped after her victory, setting off a back and forth feud that continues to this day.
Her next fight was in August against Bethe Correia, a Brazilian slugger who was more than willing to trade words with Rousey. Many thought Correia took things too far after she commented “Don’t commit suicide, because I will give you the rematch,” which Rousey took as a reference to her father. Ron Rousey committed suicide after being diagnosed with a terminal illness when Ronda was only a child.
Rousey took her anger out on Correia with her fists, knocking out the Brazilian fighter in 34 seconds.
The UFC celebrated their dominant champion by having a second mural of her painted in Venice Beach.
Rousey’s next fight came quickly – a fight with boxer Holly Holm set for December in Vegas. An injury to Robbie Lawler changed the UFC’s plans, and suddenly Rousey found herself moved onto a November card in Australia. Here she is with her trainer Edmond Tarverdyan, who also trains Vic Darchinyan. He had been talking Rousey’s striking skills since before the Correia fight, and now felt his student would prove herself against former boxing champ Holm.
UFC 193 went down at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on November 15. The event was the biggest the UFC had ever held, selling over 56,000 tickets.
But while the promotion for the fight went well, Ronda Rousey’s performance in the cage did not. Holly Holm used her boxing footwork to stop Rousey from throwing her and peppered her with multiple strikes, bloodying the champion in the first round.
And then in the second round, the unthinkable happened: Ronda Rousey got knocked out. Holm caught the champion off balance and then released a thunderous left foot that caught Rousey right on the jaw. With that, we had a new UFC champion and Ronda Rousey’s reign of invincibility was over.
How Rousey will come back is set to be one of the biggest sports stories of 2016. As it stands, the UFC is looking to have her rematch Holly Holm at UFC 200 in July, but Rousey has warned she may not be ready to return by then. Will she come back and retake her belt from a very game Holly Holm? Or will Hollywood draw her away from the fight game instead? Only time will tell. Whatever the case, Rousey is bound to be back in the headlines in 2016 and you can expect to see a lot more of her on Uproxx next year.
