Conor McGregor: When Joe Rogan credited Ronda Rousey effect for launching Conor McGregor into global superstardom

Joe Rogan once credited Ronda Rousey as the catalyst for creating global MMA stars such as Conor McGregor. During her peak, Rousey was the biggest female combat star on the planet, paving the way for others to step into the limelight.

During her run in Strikeforce and the UFC between 2011-2015, 'Rowdy' put women's MMA on the map. Her dominant victories, which became synonymous with her devastating armbar submission, saw her climb to the top of the women's bantamweight division as well as achieve mainstream success.

Rousey would go on to feature on the cover of magazines such as Men's Fitness and Sports Illustrated as appeared in Hollywood movies like The Expendables and Fast & Furious franchises.

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While many of the newer generation of MMA fans typically believe Conor McGregor was the first to break the mould and become a mainstream success, Joe Rogan believes it was actually Ronda Rousey who got the ball rolling.

Speaking on a UFC broadcast back in 2018, Rogan stated:

"Rousey's appearances in the early UFC changed people's perception of what fighting is. She did that for women. 100%. She put MMA on a far bigger map than anybody before her. Part of the reason why Conor McGregor became so big, and people became so big after her, is because of her. Because she got people into the sport that had no idea what it was before. Young girls that had no desire to watch men fighting each other, but they saw this beautiful woman throwing people on their back and armbarring them...[She is] a pioneer like no other."

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (0:27):

Joe Rogan explains why he stays away from toxicity on social media

Joe Rogan recently weighed in on the toxic nature of social media and explained why he stays away from being involved in any negative engagement with fans.

Due to the sheer size of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), the UFC commentator faces negative comments more than most. While that would understandably become tiresome for some people, Rogan recently revealed he pays no attention to the negative side of social media.

Speaking on a recent episode of JRE, he said:

"I don’t get involved in these like hissy fits online, particularly on Twitter... As someone who looks at everyone like a child or a baby, I’m not angry that people do that. I understand the appeal of it... If you look at the majority of discourse on social media regarding hot-button issues, it’s disrespectful, contentious, sh*tty, and insulting. I’ve decided, over time in my life, to not do that."

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (37:40):

About the author

Will began his tenure at Sportskeeda as an MMA writer over 2 years ago and has penned over 1800 pieces so far, including 35+ exclusives, which have garnered close to 5 million views.

Will graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications from Bournemouth University, where he was also a valued member of their communications team. His degree heavily focused on social media and writing, which eventually led him toward sports writing.

He turned into an MMA fan after witnessing Conor McGregor’s 13-second TKO win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in 2015. The Irishman sits at the top of his list of top-five MMA fighters of all time, which also includes world champions like Demetrious Johnson, Michael Bisping, Max Holloway, and Georges St-Pierre.

Will especially enjoys working on event days and feels his contribution to Sportskeeda’s UFC 300 coverage was one of the high points of his time with the organization. He ensures his articles are accurate by going through multiple sources, which also helps his writing be as informative as possible.

His interests away from work include football, gaming, live streaming, and listening to music.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi