{"id":917037,"date":"2026-10-05T13:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T13:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917037\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T13:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T13:52:12","slug":"dana-white-reveals-how-ronda-rousey-took-only-minutes-to-change-his-no-women-policy-in-ufc-mindset-mma-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917037\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White reveals how Ronda Rousey took only \u201cminutes\u201d to change his NO WOMEN policy in UFC mindset | MMA News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DanaHolly Holm and Ronda Rousey (Image Via Getty) Dana White has revealed that it took only a few minutes for Ronda Rousey<\/a> to change his mind about women fighting in the UFC. White had previously insisted that women would \u201cnever\u201d compete inside the promotion. However, a brief conversation with Rousey at a UFC event made him reconsider his position.White recalled that Rousey approached him and asked for 15 minutes of his time. They spoke privately at the arena. Within minutes, White said he realised that Rousey had the personality and determination needed to lead a new women\u2019s division. Her success later proved that decision right and helped transform women\u2019s MMA.<\/p>\n

Ronda Rousey changed Dana White\u2019s view in minutes<\/p>\n

UFC President Dana White has often spoken about the meeting with Ronda Rousey. It became one of the most important moments in UFC history.\u201cRonda Rousey grabbed me at an event, said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m Ronda Rousey. Can I get 15 minutes with you?\u2019 We went into my room at the arena\u2026 and, I don\u2019t know, minutes into the conversation, I\u2019m like, \u2018Holy shit. I think I\u2019m going to do this and she\u2019s the one to do it with,\u2019 you know?\u201d White said.Before their conversation, White had publicly maintained that women would never fight in the UFC. Rousey challenged that view with her confidence and belief in herself.According to White, Rousey stood out from other fighters. She had a strong personality and a clear understanding of how she could become a major star. She also had a huge amount of self-belief.White eventually decided that Rousey could become the face of women\u2019s MMA in the UFC.The decision quickly produced results. Rousey became the UFC\u2019s first female fighter. She was also named the inaugural UFC Women\u2019s Bantamweight Champion.Her performances made her one of the biggest stars in the promotion. Rousey became a major pay-per-view attraction and headlined several UFC events.Her popularity also helped change the UFC\u2019s approach to women\u2019s MMA. More female fighters were given opportunities. Multiple women\u2019s divisions were eventually introduced.The success of Rousey also helped open the door for future stars. Fighters such as Amanda Nunes, Joanna J\u0119drzejczyk and Cris Cyborg went on to become major names in the sport.White and Rousey have also remained close despite their careers taking different paths. Rousey has described White as one of her closest friends and has credited him with playing an important role in her career.Their relationship continued even after Rousey moved away from the UFC. Before her return to combat sports against Gina Carano at a Most Valuable Promotions event shown live on Netflix, Rousey reportedly gave the UFC an opportunity to make a counter-offer.White instead supported her decision. He also sent Rousey a supportive message on fight day.There has even been speculation about Rousey\u2019s future in MMA leadership. Former UFC fighter Dan Hardy has suggested that she could potentially succeed White as the head of the promotion one day.For now, however, White remains in charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey (Image Via Getty) Dana White has revealed that it took only a few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,484849,958,484848,786,785,15809,484846,85,787,9756,484847,152901],"class_list":["post-917037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dan-hardy-mma","tag-dana-white","tag-female-fighters-in-ufc","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-ronda-rousey","tag-ronda-rousey-achievements","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-history","tag-ufc-women-fighting","tag-womens-mma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}