8 Most Powerful People In MMA
7. Ronda Rousey
She may have fought her last fight - key word "may." Which is the only reason she is this far down the list.
Ronda Rousey, frankly, is the reason MMA is as mainstream as it is in 2017. For the past three years, she worked and fought her way to the top, and thanks to her fighting ability, good looks, and intense personality, she became a crossover star.
She landed parts in major movies. She caused a stir when she appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside The Rock. She landed cover after cover, talk show after talk show. She had the press eating from the palm of her hand.
Ronda Rousey, in fact, became so powerful that the UFC allowed her to skip out on her media duties in the build up to UFC 207. Something that was never granted to any fighter in the promotion's history.
Sure, her last two fights ended in losses. Yet while she may have fallen, she still has the power to make people watch. Over one million viewers ordered UFC 207, most specifically for Rousey. That kind of drawing power is rare in combat sports. To put it in perspective, Flyod "Money" Mayweather's final boxing match, against Andre Berto, brought in just 350,000 buys. For his retirement fight.
If Rousey booked an actual retirement fight promoted as such, imagine what she would draw.