As Dana White stepped into his all-black SUV in January 2011, he was stopped by a question about whether or not women would ever fight in the UFC.

Without missing a beat, the American swiftly replied ‘never’.

9Ronda Rousey celebrates her win over Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 – a ground-breaking moment in MMACredit: Getty Images – Getty

Almost two years later, White altered the landscape of MMA forever when he confirmed Ronda Rousey was the first female fighter to sign with the UFC.

In addition, the former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight champion became the first ever 135lbs champion in the UFC and defended her newly acquired title against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.

Rousey was accustomed to dealing with pressure already in her burgeoning career; she won Bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Judo, had dislocated bitter rival Meisha Tate’s elbow during their grudge match and even earned the nickname ‘Rowdy’ after WWE legend Roddy Piper agreed she could adopt his moniker.

However, it is entirely possible there would not have been another female fighter in the UFC for some time if she lost to Carmouche in California on February 23, 2013.

9The Olympic Bronze medallist quit judo to pursue a career in MMA and never looked back9Rousey became a superstar for her work inside and outside of the octagonCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Rousey did win – in spectacular fashion inside of a round – to spark a run of six consecutive UFC title defences in the bantamweight division.

In December of the very same year, the UFC introduced a strawweight division as the clamour for more female fights grew alongside Rousey’s popularity.

It took the Olympian 14 seconds to submit Cat Zingano to gain the fastest ever submission win in UFC history, as her ability in the octagon transcended MMA.

Mike Tyson admitted he wanted no part of Rousey when asked about the growth of MMA and what it meant for boxing.

9Mike Tyson was in awe of ‘Rowdy’Credit: Getty Images – Getty

“S***, Ronda Rousey might kick my ass,” he said in an interview with HuffPost Live. “That 14 seconds the last fight, s***, man you got to take that seriously.

“She’s marketed herself, and not necessarily from a publicist’s perspective. She put in the work, too. She’s putting these people to bed, she’s tapping them out, and she’s doing the 14-second thing.”

It wasn’t just inside the octagon where Rousey was making a name for herself; she was also a commercial superstar. In 2015, she appeared on the front cover of the popular EA Sports UFC 2 video game alongside Conor McGregor.

Both Rousey and the Irishman fought three times in 2015, yet Rousey was officially the highest-earning UFC athlete.

9McGregor fought three times in 2015, but earned less than RouseyCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Rousey would amass a 12-2 record from her professional MMA career, calling quits in 2016 after her loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207. However, her impact on the UFC and women’s sport as a whole is significant.

Since 2013, there has been a 15 per cent increase in women’s appearances in the UFC. Twenty one women fought in that year, while there were 104 appearances by female fighters in 2020.

182 women in total have fought since UFC 157 when Rousey defeated Liz Carmouche, while there have been 31 events headlined by women. One in ten main events have been headlined by women since 2013.

Nunes has since replaced Rousey as the pound-for-pound best female fighter on the planet, achieving iconic ‘double champ’ status by claiming both the bantamweight and featherweight titles.

9Nunes cemented her position as the face of women’s MMA when she destroyed Rousey in 2016Credit: Getty Images – Getty

‘The Lioness’ became the first fighter ever (male or female) to record multiple title defences in two divisions whilst holding two titles with her first-round submission of Megan Anderson at UFC 259.

By extending her win streak to 12 in the UFC, the Brazilian holds the longest winning streak in UFC Women’s history, while only Kamaru Usman (13) holds a longer, active winning streak.

“The next challenge is to beat the record for the most title defences,” she said. “I want to do it better than the guys.

“I think about that. I want to do what they think a woman can’t do. I want to keep fighting, keep defending this title until I break that record.”

9The Lioness became the first female to hold two belts simultaneously in UFC history back in 2018Credit: Getty Images – Getty

Breaking down barriers and redefining what women can and cannot do is something the UFC have actively sought to do ever since UFC 157.

Perhaps no fight typified this better than the strawweight title fight between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 almost a year ago to the very day.

When you consider what makes a fight truly great, there is often an element of imperfection which gives way to such chaos. Would Nate Diaz have come back against McGregor if the Irishman did not gas out or would Robbie Lawler have been able to withstand such punishment from Rory MacDonald without throwing such desperate shots?

But Zhang and Jedrzejczyk were practically perfect from the very first bell, their excellence rather deficiency brought the best out of one another. than The champion’s power and accuracy left the challenger so grossly deformed she earned comparisons with an ‘alien’, while Zhang whiffed on shots later on because of the damaging leg kicks Jedrzejczyk threw.

9The UFC 248 co-main event was a battle for the ages and was the 2020 fight of the year for manyCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Dana White’s comments in 2011 about women never fighting in the UFC seems a lot longer than a decade ago and his inability to contain his delight after the conclusion of the strawweight title fight is a reminder of how far the company has come.

“It’s one of the best fights I’ve ever seen, period,” he said. “Right when the fight got over, I heard that they threw 800 punches, 400 each, in that ballpark.

“Both women were incredibly durable, kept coming forward, both of them wanted to win that belt so bad. It was one of the greatest fights ever,” White said.

“From what I saw, those guys were matching each other punch for punch. Every time someone would punch or kick, the other one would punch or kick.

“Both of them threw around 400 punches. It was an incredible fight.”

981 women’s bouts took place in 2020. This has grown 15% from the 16 bouts that took place in 2013.

The importance of Ronda Rousey, the first woman to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, to the growth of female fighters can never be underestimated.