Former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey's first in-person meeting with Dana White featured a bizarre clothing choice on the part of the UFC kingpin.
Before Ronda Rousey became a pioneer in women's MMA when she became the UFC's first female signee, she had the opportunity to meet Dana White for the first time while assisting one of her teammates. But Rousey remembers her first meeting with White because of the attire the UFC kingpin wore when she introduced herself.
Rousey and White remain close to this day, several years removed from the former UFC bantamweight champion's last appearance in the Octagon. She left the fight after a loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in her long-awaited return to the cage.
At a time when White was adamant that women would never compete in the Octagon as long as he was in charge, Rousey and others hoped to change his mind. Although Rousey was eventually successful in convincing White to bring women on board the UFC roster, their first meeting was not what Rousey expected.
Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
Ronda Rousey describes hilarious first meeting with Dana White
During an appearance on Chris Van Vliet's podcast, Rousey recalled her bizarre first meeting with White.
“I was helping Manny Gamburyan with his weigh-in, and I just did ESPN: The Body Issue, and he wore a screen-printed shirt of mine on the cover,” Rousey said. “He's just a fan [LAUGHS]…he knew all the Armenian boys were my boys, and he knew Manny was on the map.
“I just asked him for fifteen minutes of his time,” Rousey continued. “And when he was done with the weigh-ins, he pulled me aside into this room in the bowels of the arena… and I just asked him for his advice on things. I didn't tell him, 'You need to put women in the UFC,' we didn't talk about it at all. I knew at that moment that it wasn't my job to tell him how to run his business. My job was to make sure he liked me as much as possible and felt invested in my success.”
White never discussed the details of when he first met Rousey, but the two maintained a close friendship years after her retirement. She was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018 after setting the standard for female dominance in MMA.
Ronda Rousey became a legend after an awkward encounter with Dana White
Rousey went on to set numerous UFC records, including the fastest finish (0:14) in a UFC title fight when she submitted Cat Zingano at UFC 184. She defeated the likes of Miesha Tate, Alexis Davis and Bethe Correia during her storied career. .
Rousey and Liz Carmouche faced off in the UFC's first-ever women's fight at UFC 157. Rousey retained the inaugural UFC bantamweight championship by finishing Carmouche with an armbar in the first round.
Rousey and White helped build the UFC women's divisions into what they are today. Stars like Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili and Nunes wouldn't have shined if Rousey hadn't changed White's opinion on women's fighting.
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