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MMA

10th Jun 2018

Ronda Rousey headlines 2018 UFC hall of fame class

Jack O'Toole

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will become the first woman to ever be inducted into the Modern Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame next month.

Rousey will receive the honour at a ceremony in Las Vegas on 5 July where she will join Urijah Faber, Forrest Griffin and BJ Penn as the 2018 inductees.

Rousey shot to prominence in 2013 when she won the first ever UFC Women’s Bantamweight title fight with a first round submission of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.

The 31-year-old went onto defend her belt a further five times, four by way of first round stoppage, before eventually losing the title to Holly Holm in the first MMA loss of her career in November 2015.

Rousey left the UFC following her loss to Amanda Nunes in 2016 in order to pursue a career in professional wrestling with the WWE.

UFC President Dana White took to the wrestling network to express his gratitude for Rousey’s contributions to the UFC.

“There would be no women in UFC without Ronda Rousey,” UFC President Dana White said, via WWE.com.

“Ronda is an absolute pioneer who helped me personally, and a lot of other people, look at women in combat sports differently.”

Rousey finished her MMA career with a 12-2 record with none of her pro fights lasting the distance.