Fertitta: Why can’t Rousey be the biggest athlete in combat sports?
Lorenzo Fertitta: “And she has been probably, she has been the most impressive athlete we ever worked with, here at the UFC.”
ZUFFA CEO Lorenzo Fertitta spoke recently with Graham Bensinger for Yahoo Sports, and said he can see Ronda Rousey becoming the most popular athlete in combat sports.
“I feel like this is a seminal moment, not just sports, but in culture altogether,” said Fertitta. “This movement that’s being led by Ronda Rousey – it’s female empowerment. Who is to say, why can’t a girl be a fighter? Why can’t a girl be successful in sports like these other athletes in sports?
“Who’s to say, why can’t Ronda Rousey be the biggest, most popular athlete in combat sports? And that’s her whole attitude. And that’s why she is getting there. And she’s blazing the trail, and I think what’s happening for females in sports, the most interesting story, the most important story in sports is the UFC. Because we’ve embraced it, we don’t treat them any differently. They headline big PPV events. They get paid the PPV points when they’re champions, no different than the guys do.
“Ronda Rousey’s whole life has been transformed from being an ex-Olympic athlete, the first (US) woman to ever win a medal in Judo in the Olympics, and you find yourself literally living out of your car. Because what’s the outlet after the Olympics for someone who’s a wrestler or a Judo player? And here we come with the opportunity to be on a worldwide stage.
“And she has been probably, she has been the most impressive athlete we ever worked with, here at the UFC. I put her up there with the best of the best. Not just for what she can do in the Octagon, but the way she handles herself outside the Octagon. The way she manages her own discipline, the way she trains, the way she balances that with, now she’s a worldwide movie star, with these big, big roles that she does.
“She doesn’t miss a beat at all.”