Rousey Joins UFC As Champion

Another step forward in women’s equality came in the most unlikely of places on Thursday: At a news conference for this weekend’s UFC on FOX fight, among a group of tough dudes competing for the title of baddest men on the planet, from the lips of UFC president Dana White.

At the end of a news conference for the Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz title fight as well as the three other fights on the FOX card, White pulled out a bejeweled UFC belt and turned toward a black curtain: “Bring the champ out here,” he said.

Out stepped Ronda Rousey, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo, the biggest name in the burgeoning sport women’s mixed martial arts, and now, with White’s coronation, the first women’s champion in UFC history.

“I don’t feel it’s really mine until I win it,” Rousey said of the title belt draped over her shoulder.

It’s true: She hasn’t won a single fight in the UFC’s newly created 135-pound bantamweight women’s division. That’s because there’s never before been any women’s UFC fights. White announced the first UFC women’s fight will be on Feb. 23, 2013, when Rousey, who is undefeated in her professional mixed martial arts career in other promotions – she’s won each fight in the first round, each by her famed arm bar submission – will defend her belt against Liz Carmouche, a former US Marine who has done three tours of duty in the Middle East...More?

source: msn.foxsports.com