UFC
Dana White sees something special in Ronda Rousey, calls her a "dude trapped in this beautiful body"
Sep 17, 2012 - 2:30:53 PM Dana White sees something special in Ronda Rousey, calls her a "dude trapped in this beautiful body"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC President Dana White hasn't always been high on women's mixed martial arts. He's still not entirely there, save for one fighter in particular: Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey.

White has praised Rousey for garnering interest and for doing what she does inside the cage. She's made such an impression that White has even discussed the potential for Rousey to fight in the UFC at some point in the future. His continued admiration for the former Olympic medalist has extended to awe at just how high her star has risen in such a short time in 2012; in an interview with reporters last week in Las Vegas, he discussed being witness to that rise firsthand.

"I took Ronda Rousey to the Sons of Anarchy premiere the other day," White began (transcribed by MMAFighting.com). "And you know how Hollywood premieres are with f***ing people lined up and down the streets. You got the red carpet. So we pull up and you got all the Sons guys, and all the celebrities that are there from FX TV shows. We got out of the car and the whole f***ing place started screaming 'Ronda, Ronda, Ronda,' like f***ing crazy. Like a f***ing Kardashian got out of the car. I was like holy f***ing s*** this girl is right there."

While some would place White's admiration simply at Rousey's looks on top of being a fighter, White insists he sees something more to her than just a pretty face who can compete in the sport.

"She's a f***ing unique individual. She's like a Diaz brother," White said. "She really is. Inside like a f***ing dude trapped in this beautiful body. The reason I got interested in women's MMA is because of her... everyone is like it's cause she's good-looking and 'Dana blah-blah.' Gina Carano is good-looking too. She's very pretty. There's f***ing something different about Ronda Rousey."

However, while White sees a star in the Women's Bantamweight Champ, he's backed off a bit on the idea of Rousey in the UFC. The main reason for that is because he believes it could stifle the growth of the women's game, as there isn't an infrastructure of smaller events for women to work their way up.

"Let's say we took Ronda Rousey and you brought her in the UFC, you'd have to build an entire division. Then you have to have another place where women can train and work their way up," White said. "For the men you have all these other small shows happening all over the world. They can work their way up and get on The Ultimate Fighter. There's so many different route for the guys to get there, where for the women's (there's not)."

"There's Invicta where they can fight and train," he continued. "But that's only one f***ing show out there other than Strikeforce where women can work their way up. I just fear bringing Rhonda to the UFC just shuts down the path for other talent to get to Ronda. It's tough, but I'm telling you right now I think she's one of the pound-for-pound best in the world. She's ripping apart all the best girls in the world."

"The thing about Rousey is these girls she's fighting against are the best, they're the best girls in the world. They know exactly what the f*** she's going to do and they can't stop her."

Penick's Analysis: The depth issue has always been White's main concern when it comes to women's MMA, and he's not wrong about it being a problem. There are certainly a lot of very talented fighters in the women's ranks, but they're not all in one division; and those who could make up a couple of divisions don't necessarily number what the UFC would be looking for in order to completely fill them. Invicta is a great outlet for women's MMA at the moment, and Strikeforce still features women's fighters, but not enough fighters are getting enough exposure to build things up at this moment in time. Will that change? It may, and as it continues to develop it may become more feasible, but White's not wrong that it could tap the talent pool entirely if they put a minor women's division together for the UFC. If they were all fighting in the Octagon, there'd be even less available to develop on the smaller scene at this stage.