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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey has seen her status rise well outside of the MMA world over the last year. Becoming the one fighter who was able to convince Dana White that women's MMA belonged in the UFC, Rousey has transcended many of her contemporaries in the sport on a mainstream level.
That exposure has gotten her recognition outside of the MMA world once again, as Business Insider has named her one of "50 Women Who Are Changing The World" for 2013. Rousey came in at #42, and her essentially single-handedly bringing women to the UFC is at the forefront of that.
Wrote BI:
"Thanks to martial arts fighter Ronda Rousey, women now fight in the UFC.
The trash-talking Olympian qualified for the Athens games when she was only 17, and was the youngest judo competitor enlisted. In 2006, she became the first U.S. female athlete in nearly 10 years to win an A-Level tournament when she took home the gold metal at the Birmingham World Cup in Great Britain.
She also graced the cover of ESPN's body issue last year."
Penick's Analysis: Rousey's arrival to the UFC was an absolute paradigm shift for the sport's biggest organization, and it's continued with the addition of a number of female fighters and the upcoming influx of talent on The Ultimate Fighter. It all started with Rousey's persistence, and her bringing Dana White around on the idea of women in the UFC, and this is a deserving placement on a list like this for her.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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