Dana White: Ronda Rousey is making more than $3M a year in sponsorships
In just two short years, Ronda Rousey has become a household name while also becoming one of the faces of the UFC.
She's the reigning and defending women's bantamweight champion while quietly building her career outside the Octagon with movie roles in "Furious 7" and the "Entourage" movie, as well as a new autobiography that was just released last week.
While she hasn't been in the promotion long, Rousey has made quite the impression on UFC president Dana White, who says she's the model athlete and superstar.
If it was possible, he'd clone her over and over again.
"She's the greatest athlete that I've ever worked with, period," White told the Jim Rome show recently. "I wish I had 10 Ronda Rouseys."
White describes Rousey as the most focused athlete on the roster, but despite her superstar status she never turns down the chance to help promote the UFC or even other fighters when that's what they need her to do.
She does all this while maintaining the label of being the most dominant athlete in all of sports because she constantly serves up unparalleled destruction whenever she steps inside the cage with an opponent.
Rousey's high profile in the mainstream coupled with her marketability outside the UFC has turned her into possibly the most profitable athlete in all of mixed martial arts.
"She's laser-focused on her career and what she wants to do," White said. "None of these guys want to do PR. She'll do any PR you ask her to do. She'll even do PR to try to help sell somebody else's fight. We need her to do things, a lot of activations with sponsors and she says, 'No problem.' And when she leaves, the sponsors call here and say, 'She was unbelievable to work with.'
"That woman's making over $3 million a year in sponsorship."
The fame and fortune haven't gone to Rousey's head either according to White, who says she's the exact same person she is now as she was two years ago when she made her UFC debut.
White has seen plenty of fighters become rock stars with a little bit of popularity and some money, but he's witnessed none of that with Rousey and doesn't expect that will change any time soon.
"It's the exact opposite. The more rich and famous she becomes, the easier she is to work with," White said. "It's always the other way around. I can't explain it."
