What Is Ronda Rousey's Net Worth and Career Earnings?
Ronda Rousey is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former MMA competitor and judoka who has a net worth of $14 million. Ronda Rousey was one of the most popular and successful female MMA fighters of all time, she has since transitioned into a WWE star and actress.
Ronda first gained international attention as a judoka, winning a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics, the first American woman to do so. Transitioning to MMA, Rousey quickly rose to prominence in Strikeforce, becoming the Women's Bantamweight Champion. Her dominance continued in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she became the first woman to sign with the promotion and the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey's early UFC career was marked by a series of impressive wins, showcasing her judo expertise and armbar submission technique. One of her most notable victories was against Liz Carmouche in UFC 157, the first-ever women's fight in the UFC, where Rousey defended her title.
Her winning streak continued until UFC 193 in 2015, where she suffered a shocking defeat to Holly Holm, ending her reign as champion. This loss, followed by another defeat to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in 2016, marked a turning point in Rousey's MMA career.
Beyond the octagon, Rousey ventured into acting, with roles in films like "The Expendables 3," "Furious 7," and "Entourage." Her on-screen presence extended her fame beyond MMA, showcasing her versatility and appeal.
In 2018, Rousey transitioned to professional wrestling, signing with WWE. She made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 34 and quickly became a prominent figure in the women's division. Rousey captured the WWE Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam in 2018, holding the title until WrestleMania 35 in a high-profile match involving Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
Early Life
Ronda Rousey was born Ronda Jean Rousey on February 1, 1987, in Riverside County, California. As a result of being born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, Rousey struggled with a speech disorder for the first six years of her life. When she was three years old, her parents moved from Riverside to Jamestown, North Dakota, in order to receive specialized and intensive speech therapy at Minot State University. Her mother, AnnaMaria De Mars, was the first American woman to win a World Judo Championship. In addition, her mother pursued a Ph.D. at the University of California, Riverside, while raising her daughters. Her biological father, Ron Rousey, after he broke his back sledding and learned he would be paraplegic, died by suicide in 1995. Ronda was eight years old. Rousey dropped out of high school and later earned her GED.
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Judo Career
Rousey began practicing Judo with her mother when she was just 11 years old. Her mother trained her until she was 13, and then she switched to a pro trainer. Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens when she was seventeen and was the youngest judo competitor there. She went on to become the first American athlete to win two Junior World medals. In February 2007, Ronda moved up to 70kg, where she ranked as one of the top three women Judo competitors in the world. Rousey later became the first American to win an Olympic medal in Judo when she won the Bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Rousey retired from Judo after her Olympic glory at age 21. Afterward, she shared a studio apartment with a roommate in Venice Beach and worked three bartending and cocktail waiting jobs to support herself.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
Two years after her win, Rousey began fighting on the mixed martial arts circuit in 2010 with Team Hayastan. She also trained at the Glendale Fighting Club under MMA coach Edmond Tarverdyan. She also trained in Jiu-Jitsu at Dynamix MMA from 2011 to 2014 with Henry Akins.
Rousey made her mixed martial arts premiere in August 2010. She defeated Hayden Munoz in seconds with an armbar. In fact, Rousey defeated ALL of her opponents in under a minute with her signature move, the armbar. Rousey said that her mother jumped on her every morning to wake her up with an armbar, which is how this came to be the move she is known for.
Ronda made her Strikeforce debut against Sarah D'Alelio in August 2011 in Las Vegas. Rousey became the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion in 2011 and then moved to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the UFC), where she became the first Women's Bantamweight Champion in 2012. She was the first female fighter to sign up with the UFC. She successfully defended her UFC title in February 2013 against Liz Carmouche in February 2013 at UFC 157. Rousey also went on to defend her Bantamweight Championship title, although she did get her jaw dislocated by Carmouche in the process. Rousey also successfully defended her UFC title in 2014.
On November 15, 2015, Ronda faced off against Holly Holm in the main event at UFC 193. Despite fans heavily betting on her, Ronda was unable to get Holly to the ground due to Holms' high-kicking strategies. Holm knocked Rousey out with a high kick to the neck, effectively ending Rousey's streak as champion and marking her very first loss. Rousey was medically suspended by the UFC with a no-contact suspension and no fights for 60 days and would have to clear CT scan results in order to have the suspension reduced. Rousey was not medically cleared until December 8, 2015. She returned to face the champion Amanda Nunes on December 30, 2016, at the main event at UFC 207 but lost the fight in just 48 seconds into the first round. Ronda Rousey was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2018. Ronda never formally announced her retirement, but when asked in an interview with Ellen Degeneres if she would return to fight MMA, Rousey replied, "I think it's just as likely as me going back to another Olympics for Judo."
Biggest UFC Paydays
Thanks to a class action lawsuit against UFC, some of Ronda's actual fight earnings were revealed in November 2023. Over just seven fights between 2013 and 2016, she earned $18 million in guarantees, bonuses, and Pay Per View revenue share. Below is a list of some of her biggest UFC paydays:
- $574,720 (vs. Liz Carmouche)
- $1,817,907 (vs. Miesha Tate)
- $870,969 (vs. Sara McMann)
- $1,063,688 (vs. Alexis Davis)
- $1,458,282 (vs. Cat Zingano)
- $2,642,204 (vs. Bethe Correia)
- $4,476,662 (vs. Holly Holm)
- $4,879,766 (vs. Amanda Nunes)
Endorsements and Earnings
On February 28, 2015, Ronda Rousey defeated Cat Zingano with an armlock in 14 seconds. Ronda earned $65,000 to show up, $65,000 for the win, plus an estimated $1 million Pay Per View bonus. Between June 2014 and June 2015, Ronda earned approximately $6.5 million in prizes and endorsements. She has endorsed Monster headphones, Carl's Jr., Reebok, Metro PCS, and more. Unfortunately, Ronda's lucky streak came to a very brutal and public end on November 16, 2015, when she was easily defeated by Holly Holm and UFC 193. In 2015 alone, Ronda earned $14 million in prizes, PPV money, endorsements and media appearances. For her fight against Amanda Nunes on December 30, 2016, Ronda was paid $3 million just to show up.
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Wrestling Career
Rousey has participated in various WWE events as part of The Four Horsewomen. She has fought The Rock, The Authority, Triple H, and Vince McMahon. The Four Horsewomen have made audience appearances in support of different wrestlers. In 2017, the Horsewomen faced off with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Sasha Banks. Later that year, it was reported that Rousey had signed with the WWE full-time and had been training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. She made a surprise at the Royal Rumble in January 2018. She became part of WWE's Raw brand in March 2018. She won her first Raw Championship on August 19, 2018, squashing competitor Bliss, and one month later, on September 16's Hell in a Cell, she once again defeated Bliss. In March 2019, Rousey had her first loss in WWE against Lynch, ending her championship reign at 231 days. Ronda is now the second longest-reigning Raw Women's Champion. Rousey returned at the 2022 Royal Rumble, winning the women's Royal Rumble match. That same year, she won the SmackDown Women's Championship twice, becoming a three-time women's world champion in WWE.
Acting
Rousey is also an actress. She appeared in "The Expendables 3," "Furious 7," "Entourage," and "Mile 22," and she had a cameo as a fight instructor in 2019's "Charlie's Angels." She also had a recurring role as Lena Bosko on the Fox series "9-1-1" in 2019, and she hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2016.
Personal Life
Rousey previously dated fellow UFC fighter Brendan Schaub. She started dating UFC fighter Travis Browne in October 2015. Browne was still legally married to his estranged wife at the time, Jenny Renee Webb, and was being investigated for domestic violence. Rousey and Browne got engaged in New Zealand in April 2017 and they were married in August 2017 in Hawaii. On September 27, 2021, the couple's daughter was born.
Real Estate
In 2015, Ronda paid $1.4 million for a bungalow in LA's Venice neighborhood. She listed this property for sale in August 2024 for just under $1.9 million.
In 2017, Ronda bought a 2.4 acre ranch property in Riverside, California. Clearly bitten by the ranching/cattle raising bug, she then bought 4,000 acres in Southern Oregon where she ethically raises cows and chickens. She has collectively dubbed her various ranch properties in California in Oregon, "Browsey Acres."
