Rousey wears role well

ANAHEIM, Calif. — What once essentially served as Ronda Rousey’s own private sanctuary at her Southern California gym is now a hotbed of activity.

It’s one of the most tangible signs that Rousey’s immense popularity has spurred a surge in female interest in mixed martial arts.

“I used to believe I was the only girl to the point that I never locked the bathroom because I never had to worry about anyone walking into the girls’ bathroom,” she said. “Now I actually have to lock it because (girls) actually started coming to the gym.

“I’m no longer the little princess with my own little dressing room, but I’m really happy that we have a lot more girls coming in.”

That trend is likely to continue after tonight when Rousey fights Liz Carmouche in the first women’s fight in Ultimate Fighting Championship history. The bout headlines UFC 157 at Honda Center. Rousey is technically defending the UFC women’s title, but she refuses to acknowledge she is the champion until she wins the belt in the cage.

The fight takes place just over two years — and just down the freeway — after UFC president Dana White famously told a TMZ photographer outside a Los Angeles restaurant that women would “never” fight in his organization.

Then came Rousey. The Olympic judo medalist combines world-class athleticism with Hollywood good looks and a marketable personality. All of that convinced White to change his mind.

It also has brought an unprecedented level of attention to this fight.

Rousey, 26, has made several appearances on ESPN over the last few months and been profiled on HBO’s “Real Sports” and featured in magazines from Time to Forbes.

She has been everywhere.

“No fighter has ever fought in the UFC that has had more attention than she has. That’s a fact,” White said. “Honestly, going into this, I didn’t know that would happen. HBO and Time magazine and all these other outlets that don’t cover our sport. And if they did, I didn’t think it was going to be positive. I thought it would be a ‘freak show.’ Nobody has pulled the freak show card. It’s been pretty cool.”

All of that is expected to translate into a successful card. Tickets are nearly sold out, and UFC officials are highly optimistic about the pay-per-view buys.

“I could not be happier with the way this entire thing has gone, and I know it’s just the start of great things to come,” said White, who estimated 35 percent of UFC’s fan base is female.

He said it’s too early to tell whether more women will become fans with the addition of the female division. Rousey has been insistent this day would come since she was slapping armbars on unfortunate amateur opponents who were severely overmatched. She won all three of her amateur bouts by first-round armbar submission and has gone on to do the same thing to all six of her professional opponents.

She has been equally as impressive outside the cage, quickly embracing her status as the unquestioned face of women’s MMA.

“These are things that needed to be done for a very long time now, and I just didn’t think waiting for somebody else to do it was the wisest thing to do,” she said. “I feel like I was the most capable person and I should just suck it up and go do whatever I can to make it happen.“

All of that attention could go to someone’s head and Rousey’s mom, herself a world champion in judo and one of Rousey’s biggest fans, said her daughter was no exception for a very brief moment.

“She changed for about five minutes and then she changed back,” Dr. AnnMaria DeMars said. “I think she was a little impressed with the media coverage telling her how great she was and that lasted about five minutes. We had a little (chat) and that changed real quick.”

Rousey laughed when told of her mother’s comments, but she insists that despite all of the other responsibilities she has taken on, she has never lost focus on the task at hand.

“I can deal with it. I was expecting it to be a chaotic circus-type of thing. It met those expectations and a little more,” she said. “But there’s no amount of media, no loss of sleep, there’s nothing that can save Liz Carmouche from losing to me.”

Also on the main card, which airs live on pay per view at 7 p.m., Dan Henderson fights former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in a bout with major title implications.

The preliminary card will air at 5 p.m. on FX (Cable 24) and three fights stream live on Facebook beginning at 3:30.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.