Ronda Rousey was only two fights into her MMA career when she signed with Strikeforce. Soon after, she became one of the faces of the sport and helped usher women into UFC.

It’s been documented many times over that UFC CEO Dana White famously said women would never fight in the octagon, but Rousey became the game-changer that altered his vision for the promotion. But all the way back in 2011, Rousey was just an up-an-coming fighter hoping she could make enough of an impact for someone like White to notice her.

Looking back now, Rousey admits she felt a responsibility to get White’s attention, especially with the knowledge that women were potentially on the cutting block after UFC purchased Strikeforce.

“People forget how fragile that situation was and how last-minute I was able to get us in,” Rousey told Chris Van Vliet. “Strikeforce was the only organization that was really showcasing women and that was because of Gina Carano, because her dad was involved with the Nevada Athletic Commission and was able to sanction fights for her and all these things.

“When she was gone, Cris Cyborg’s pumped to the f*cking gills with steroids. No one wants to watch that cheating ass bitch. Everything just tanked. The division was dying. The UFC bought Strikeforce and it was assumed they were just going to absorb all of the male talent that they liked and fold the whole organization, because that’s what they did with PRIDE, that’s what they did with WEC, that was their business model. So there was a matter of time.”

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