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Most legendary athletes are immortalized in our memories at the height of their power. When you think about Michael Jordan, he changes hands in the air, floating towards the basket as if gravity did not apply to him. Similarly, Joe Montana is remembered for this perfect pass: a mind merged with Dwight Clark who saw him place the ball where only a man could catch him, the stakes as high as they would are.
If fans remember less spectacular moments on less glorious teams like the Washington Wizards or the Kansas City Chiefs, they are too nice to mention them. We prefer our heroes with the sun shining on them, beautiful, young and strong.
Ronda Rousey, the last Hall of Famer of the UFC, to be inducted Thursday night in Las Vegas, will not receive the same courtesy. 19659004] For a time, Rousey was the star of an entire sport. In eight games between 2012 and 2015, Rousey only left the first round one time. Five of these contenders could not even survive a single minute with the former Olympic bronze medalist in judo, who was a submissive mistress with a gift to impose her will on every contest.
Rousey's excellence was so convincing, her star so clear potential, that even UFC President Dana White, who was once a fierce opponent of MMA women, was seduced by his charms. And, of course, its beauty has helped pave the way for greater fame – but make no mistake: its fierce battles have propelled it into stardom.
At the height of his powers, Rousey exuded the threat, his stern grin preceding her to the cage, the victory ensured by the behavior alone. Some opponents were defeated even before the bell rang, defeated by fear and doubt. When I attended UFC 175 with writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner, she immediately began referring to Rousey's opponent as "Poor Alexis Davis". The sad body language of the fighter – all sagging shoulders and tangible terror – made the result a fait accompli.
But despite such a dominant reign, she alone pushed the female MMA into the American current, Rousey will be defined by her defeats. Fair or not, Rousey's enduring image is not one with his hands raised above his head in victory or in his iconic bid.
Instead, the broken bone of Holly Holm on Rousey's head looks on his face that followed; the exact moment when consciousness left Rousey's body, captured for posterity in pictures, memes and videos.
PAUL CROCK / Getty Images
Ignorant? Sure. Combat sports are too often. They are the ultimate binary experience. Other sports contests allow for moral victories. Such a thing does not exist in a sport that often leaves one of the contestants meaningless, revived in a pool of his own fluids, only aware that something went wrong.
Finally, it was the story of Rousey, too. She left the sport a loser, mentally broken by Holm and sent to lions one last time against current champion Amanda Nunes, trailing at this inevitable run with all the stamina of an athlete who knows she's been sentenced even before the start of the competition. This, of course, does not make Rousey unique. Most fighters come to a sad end. Even Muhammad Ali, the largest of them, was reduced to a heavy bag for Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Nobody escapes unscathed.
In mixed martial arts too, we saw all our heroes made human. Rousey's is a sport where the difference between knockouts and knockouts is measured in inches and milliseconds. Even the slightest decline can be devastating. From Royce Gracie to Anderson Silva to Randy Couture, who seemed to be ageless, Father Time inevitably won.
But that was not the case with Rousey. She was eliminated from sport at the age of 29 and in good health. This was not the voluntary warrior whose body could no longer keep up with the demands of professional athletics. Physically, she was fine. Mentally and emotionally, however, Holm had made it unfit for competition at one go.
In this, Rousey is singular. Before Holm, his four previous fights lasted two minutes, 10 seconds. His success was unprecedented, his dominance so far removed from what we expect even from the greatest champions, Rousey seemed almost bored with all that.
A grappling scholar, she put her finger on her striking game by winning three of the four fights with KOs that came with surprising ease. A magazine cover Ring followed in October 2015, as well as a discussion on a match with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Commentators, like Joe Rogan of the UFC, began to speculate that she could beat a lot of men in her weight class.
After Holm, everything changed. Things had become so easy for Rousey during her four-year reign of terror that the introduction of adversity left her severely shaken and isolated
"One thing my mother never had me taught was how to lose, "says Rousey to director Peter. Berg in a rare public appearance earlier this year (via Martin Rogers USA Today ). "She said," I want you to never imagine it as a possibility, let her suck, she deserves to suck it. "
" I did a lot of crying, m "insulating," she also said. [Husband Travis Browne] kept me up and let me cry, and that lasted two years, I could not have done it alone. "
Finally, Rousey could not fully recover from her failures – at least not in a way that allowed her to continue her career
Bizuayehu Tesfaye / Associated Press
These days, his appearances in the ring are heavily scripted, and victories and defeats are decided by his bosses at the WWE instead of his own abilities. same, it's good to see her smile again.
In the end, one has to wonder if Rousey has completely beaten her, she refused to officially retire, leaving the door open "No one's m & rsquo; Asked for a written resignation for judo, "she told Ellen DeGeneres, talk show host, at the beginning of the year (Jesse Holland , MMA Mania) think the same thing is needed to fight. "
One would think that this induction into the UFC Hall of F would shut the door on his fighting career.There is a purpose, a clear message that you are now an integral part of the past." Dan Severn, a Hall of Fame member, has beaten more than 40 times after receiving his Hall of Fame plaque – so no door is really closed in the wacky world of combat sports [19659026] debating her legacy Without her, the MMA of ordinary women would probably not exist.There is no doubt that Rousey was a very historical fighter.But the nature of her fall makes her open to Examination all that preceded it.
Does it really belong to the big ones? It is a question with which we will all struggle for a long time. [19659004]
Jonathan Snowden covers combat sports for Bleacher Report and is the # 3 9, author of Total MMA and The MMA Encyclopedia.
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