In 2015 she was dubbed the “world’s most dominant athlete” by Sports Illustrated.
Now she’s a meme.
The last 14 months have not been kind to the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first-ever female champion. After losing her bantamweight title to Holly Holm Nov. 15, 2015, via the “kick heard around the world” Ronda Rousey largely dropped off the face of the planet. Speculation ran wild over whether or not she would ever fight again.
Dec. 30 saw Rousey step back inside The Octagon for the first time in 411 days in an attempt to regain her title. Winning the fight was step one in rebuilding her image as the baddest woman on the planet. #FeartheReturn was her slogan leading up to the contest.
It took newly crowned champ Amanda Nunes just 48 seconds to erase all of that. She bewildered Rousey with a barrage of punches in a thoroughly one-sided affair.
It was the second time in as many fights that saw Rousey go viral for all the wrong reasons.
A meme of her being pushed in a stroller by Nunes (has been retweeted 27,000 times.
All fighters face criticism when they lose. A win and we would have resumed the conversation of her greatness. A loss and now she’s seen as being overrated.
This is the world we live in: a “what have you done for me lately?” culture.
Stick around long enough and eventually, you’ll find yourself on the bad end of a bout. No matter how invincible you are, the fact remains that father time is undefeated.
It happened to Muhammad Ali. It happened to Mike Tyson. It happened to Anderson Silva.
Rousey’s dilemma isn’t all that unique because everyone loses eventually.
Get out during your peak and you can maybe sneak away with an undefeated record. Rocky Marciano and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (so far) were two of the rare exceptions.
But stay around a hair too long and you will devolve into the nail no matter how accustomed you are to your role as the hammer.
Rousey’s downfall is more the norm rather than an anomaly. The only thing that separates her career trajectory from those of other fighters?
Hyperbole.
The level of exaggeration used to describe her throughout the course of her rise to superstardom is unprecedented. We weren’t talking about whether or not she was going to defeat her next opponent, we were talking about how quickly she would manage to do it this time.
“We always like to use that term once in a lifetime. Once in a lifetime does not apply to Ronda Rousey. It’s once ever in human history,” said UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
Rousey is a phenomenal fighter who has inspired millions of people as a world-class athlete. She was the first American to medal in judo in the Olympics. Her 14-second armbar victory over Cat Zingano at UFC 193 is the second fastest in championship history. She paved the way for women in the UFC, something that seemed unfathomable just a few years ago.
For now, she’s a meme, but her legacy is too hard to ignore.
