10 MMA Fights That Created Instant Legends

4. Ronda Rousey Vs. Miesha Tate - Strikeforce: Tate Vs. Rousey

Not even a year after making her professional MMA debut, a 4-0 Ronda Rousey found herself making her bantamweight bow and challenging for Miesha Tate’s Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship.

Given that Rousey would at one point get to 12-0 in her career, it goes without saying that The Rowdy One won that particular battle. Not only did Ronda win, but this was the fight that made her stand out from the pack as a special fighter.

At that point, all of Rousey’s fights had lasted less than a minute. Even against the ever-impressive Tate, Ronda still managed to bring home the W in the first round. What was most eye-opening about this victory over Miesha, however, was how the Olympic bronze medallist dislocated her opponent’s elbow on her way to winning.

Throw in the pre-contest trash talking from Ronda Rousey, and this was well and truly the fight that launched Ronda on her way to superstardom.

So impressive had Rousey become, eight months later she’d become the first female fighter to sign with the UFC. This coming after Dana White had previously said how the UFC would never feature any women’s divisions.

White would announce Ronda as the inaugural UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, and the future UFC Hall of Famer would go on to add another six wins to her record before finally losing to Holly Holm and then Amanda Nunes.

No woman, and few fighters, period, have had as much of an impact on the world of MMA as Ronda Rousey, and her breakout moment can be traced back to that March 2012 Strikeforce show.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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