Rousey doesn’t want to leave ‘Gina Carano void’
For several years, Gina Carano carried the flag for mixed martial arts, but when she left to purse an acting…
For several years, Gina Carano carried the flag for mixed martial arts, but when she left to purse an acting career, women’s MMA suffered. Ronda Rousey carries that flag now, but she hopes to create a place for women that won’t need her when she’s done fighting:
Rousey recognizes those fears, she said she’s determined not to leave a Gina Carano void of her own.
Everyone loved Gina and Gina really started all the interest in women’s MMA, and when she left, the entire sport detonated without her, Rousey told MMAjunkie. I never want to leave the sport in that state she had to when she left. I’ve really accomplished a lot at this point, and I’m starting to think about more than just the present moment and thinking more down the line and how I want to leave some sort of a legacy.
While such sentiments aren’t uncommon among fighters, Rousey wants her legacy to extend far beyond wins, losses, title defenses and first-round armbars. It may be a lofty goal, but Rousey is determined to make a big enough impact on the sport that she can point to herself as a reason why women are still in the UFC – not just a few years from now, but decades down the line.
I really want there to be women’s MMA fights in the UFC 20 years from now and be able to sit there and just revel in what was created – the way I see Royce Gracie sitting front row to the UFC’s now, Rousey said. I want to really be able to sit and have that look of contentment and have that smile that I see Royce with when he’s at those events.
