Gregg DeGuire/WireImageRemember how gorgeous Ronda Rousey looked in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue this year? And how about the way she totally stole her scenes in Entourage?! Not to mention how she called out Floyd Mayweather at the ESPYs...
Exactly. Even if you're not a mixed martial arts fan and wouldn't know sprawl-and-brawl from ground-and-pound, you know Ronda Rousey. The 28-year-old athlete, based on her utter dominance of every opponent throughout her professional fighting career, became the most revered woman in the sport, and over the past couple years her fame reached new heights as Hollywood and the celebrity world at large realized that she was both a kickass athlete and totally stunning. (Not to mention funny, charming... the whole star package.)
But are the people who hitched their fortunes to the Rousey wagon quaking in their boots today after she suffered her first defeat at the hands (and lightning-fast foot) of Holly Holm, making the woman voted in an ESPN poll as the "Best Female Athlete Ever" now 12-1 in the ring?
Not so fast.
First of all, while it would be easy to conclude that perhaps Rousey needed to spend more time in the zone than the 30-mile zone before UFC 193 on Sunday in Australia, we must remember that she took out her last opponent, Bethe Correia, in 34 seconds. In August, which certainly would put her at stratospheric celebrity status at the same time.
ESPN Sports Business reporter Darren Rovell, who's reported extensively on Rousey, tells E! News that he doesn't buy the notion that she got distracted by Hollywood and its far-reaching tentacles. Which isn't to say she didn't lose focus for a second—but that's about all it takes in the ring to turn the tables.
"You train," he said. "Once you're in the ring, once you are on the court and once you are on the field, a lot of pro athletes say they're focused. In UFC, you make one wrong move, you get behind, and you won't be able to recover—and I think that has been the case with her opponents, and that is the case here."
"I think it might have to also do with [Rousey] is a grappler and wins by getting you down on the ground," Rovell continued. "If she can't get you on the ground and you are up against a fighter, someone with an amazing kick and who keeps you up [like Holm]. Once she fell behind she didn't have the skills, based on the type of fighter that she is, to turn it around. I don't buy the whole 'she was so distracted she lost'" idea.
A source told E! News that Rousey, understandably, is pretty depressed by her loss, but she's going to have some time off to regroup.
"I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support," Rousey, who spent a night in the hospital as a precaution while docs stitched up her split lip, wrote on Instagram after the fight. "I appreciate the concerns about my health, but I'm fine. As I mentioned before I am going to take a little bit of time, but I'll be back."
And Rovell has no doubt that she will be, though the pressure will be on more than ever to resume her championship ways ASAP. Or as soon as is feasibly possible as far as plans for the rematch everybody's talking about already goes.
"Given all the potential, the act and everything else, she was maybe coming close to Maria Sharapova, who is the most marketable female athlete at about $20 million a year," he told us. "So what this does now, it doesn't end it, it just puts it on hold because she has potential to do autograph and other deals that she has held off on for her to be even bigger and make more money."
Experts have Rousey making almost $10 million a year these days.
"I think there is going to be some hesitancy for the big money to come until rematch time, which seems like the earliest that would be is July," Rovell added, "so then we are talking about another half year. And obviously with the remake of her movie, there is less buzz if she is not the dominant one."
After Rousey's loss, we of course couldn't help think of that other superstar athlete, Serena Williams—who's managed to be a non-sports celeb while still dominating on the tennis court for most of the past 15 years—and her shocking loss at the U.S. Open that denied her the calendar-year Grand Slam.
Asked about the comparison as far as what a major loss means to Williams vs. what it means for Rousey on the business end, Rovell said frankly, "It's not even close...Serena is making $15 million off the court no matter what. Sure, there might be some bonus money attached to that, but there is not nearly the stakes on [Williams]. That is not comparable."
OK, so Rousey's not in the Serenasphere. But it sounds as though that makes the outcome of her next fight, whenever it happens, all the more critical.
"I think the rematch will be one of the most-bought fights in UFC history," Rovell predicts. "But the thing is, even though there are UFC champions who have lost many times, I do think the mass appeal will be gone if she loses again. So that's a scary prospect for her and them."