“It’s extremely satisfying because that was my goal from the very beginning,” Rousey said. “I wanted to gain the respect of people that I respected, and I knew that I was capable. It’s funny, but you can see on some old interviews that I did where I said ‘I’m gonna make these people love me, I’m gonna make these people respect me, and all I have to do is win and win impressively.’ It’s not like they’re gonna put me in the middle of an arena and be like, ‘Okay, here’s a model airplane, put it together in 60 seconds.’ (Laughs) I have no idea how to do that. But my mom was making me drill judo and armbars and being a fighter and an athlete ever since I can remember. I can’t remember not being an athlete. It’s just doing what comes natural, and I feel like I’ve always been deserving of that respect, but I have to do things to earn it.”
In 2015, the ladies’ segment of the sport continued to grow, and as the rest of the mainstream world took notice of this exciting development in mixed martial arts, attention skyrocketed, with Rousey earning the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, where she was described as “The Most Dominant Athlete in Sports.”
Meanwhile, a Polish powerhouse named Joanna Jedrzejczyk introduced herself with a stirring second-round knockout of Esparza that earned her the UFC women’s strawweight title. Fight fans immediately embraced “Joanna Champion,” who successfully defended her title with wins over Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau, the latter win coming at the historic UFC 193 event in Melbourne, Australia, which was headlined by Rousey’s title defense against Holly Holm and the Jedrzejczyk-Letourneau bout. Why so historic? Not just because two women’s bouts headlined a UFC event, but because they did it in front of a then-record crowd of 56,214 fans at Etihad Stadium.