Ronda Rousey inspired UFC Vegas 78 debutant to choose fighting over ballet - "I never dreamed about going to MMA"

UFC Vegas 78 debutant credits Ronda Rousey for inspiring her to do MMA instead of ballet.

Luana Santos made her highly anticipated UFC debut last night against The Ultimate Fighter 30 winner Juliana Miller. On the night, she won the fight via a first-round TKO and extender her professional record to 6-1.

Now fighting under the biggest MMA promotion, Santos's mother was seemingly against the idea of her fighting when she started training in Judo at the age of 8 and wanted her to do ballet.

Speaking of the same during an interview with MMA Fighting, Luana Santos said:

“He took my brother and I to a judo class and my mother didn’t want that, she wanted me to do ballet."

While further speaking about how she never thought about doing MMA, Luana Santos revealed that she was inspired by Ronda Rousey while watching one of her fights. She said:

“I never dreamed about going to MMA,. I say that me going to MMA was written, it had to happen, because I went to MMA by chance. I was watching a UFC event at a friend’s house and her father was there with a friend. I was always a fan of Ronda [Rousey] because she’s a judoka, for her story, for seeing her in movies. I was inspired by her. I was watching the UFC and joked that I would do that one day."

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Ronda Rousey reveals she has got no reason to stay in the WWE

Following her exit from the UFC, Ronda Rousey joined WWE back in 2017. The former UFC superstar lived up to her hype and was also involved in the first-ever women's WrestleMania main event.

After a hiatus from the company, she returned last year. However, her return was filled with speculations about her potentially leaving the company. While there has been no confirmation about Rousey's exit, she seemingly confirmed her departure following her match with Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam.

Ronda Rousey took to Instagram and stated that Shayna Baszler was the reason she got into the business, however, she claimed that she does not have any reason to stay.

"@qosbaszler you were the reason I got into this business… Now I got no reason to stay."