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Ronda Rousey One of Fortune's 40 Under 40 Top Business Influencers
Love her or hate her – and most people seem to love her – there's no denying UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is an influencer… and now it's official.
Not only is she one of the highest paid female athletes in the world, according to Fortune, she is also one of the top business influencers in the world under the age of 40. Rousey, 28, made Fortune's annual 40 Under 40 list for 2015.
Fortune's 40 Under 40 list is the business publication's annual ranking of the most influential young people in business, featuring the “disruptors, innovators, and rebels” in the business world.
Some might argue Rousey's placement on the list, but it's not all that shocking when you consider she has ushered the women's mixed martial arts movement into the limelight. When UFC president Dana White took a chance on Rousey's star power, he had no idea the force he had unleashed.
Rousey is getting ready to headline what is potentially going to be the UFC's biggest event ever, anywhere in the world, when she headlines UFC 193 at Ethiad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, hoping to draw a crowd of 70,000-plus. She's also become a pay-per-view tour de force, drawing the largest amount of buys thus far for 2015 for an event where she was the only drawing card.
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As Fortune also noted, “(Rousey’s) hit the big screen three times, with major roles in Furious 7, The Expendables 3, and the Entourage movie, and she’ll play the lead in a forthcoming remake of Road House. She made a surprise appearance with her friend Dwayne ‘The Rock' Johnson at WrestleMania 31 in March, delighting WWE fans. And she’s inspiring women everywhere with a recent speech about body image that’s been viewed 3.1 million times and was played on-stage by Beyonce in September.”
Not only is she propelling her own career, by smashing down doors for women in a previously male-dominated industry, women across the MMA world are frequently drawing more attention than their male counterparts, i.e. Paige VanZant.
Whether you agree or not, whether you like her or not, Rousey is blowing up barriers left and right, and making the Fortune 40 Under 40 list is just the latest recognition of that fact.
