







The critics were legion in the weeks before Ronda Rousey met Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce bantamweight title in March. Rousey was only 4-0 and had spent less than three full minutes in the cage when she landed the high-profile title shot.

And even after Rousey submitted Tate in the first-round with an arm bar that ended one of the year's most exciting fights and gave her the championship, there are still those who believe Rousey didn't deserve the opportunity to fight for the belt.

They argue it was her looks, her sassy personality and her penchant for self-promotion more than her fighting ability that landed her that shot.

As Rousey prepares to defend the belt against ex-champion Sarah Kaufman on Saturday at the Valley View Casino Center in a nationally televised bout on Showtime, Tate continues to be foremost among those who insist Rousey was given preferential treatment.

Rousey had won all four of her previous fights at featherweight. She dropped to bantamweight and was immediately granted a title shot against Tate.

"It's like you take Joe Schmo off the street and he claims, 'I can do this. I can do that,' and you have very little to go off of, but you give him a title shot," Tate said. "Ridiculous, right? Well, of course. That's not how it works. Look at the UFC: Guys are busting their butts, winning this fight, winning this fight, winning that fight, and they have to do so much more to get to that level.

"Ronda didn't put in her time. Her skill set is there. Yeah, she has the skill set. But she didn't do what all the rest of the girls had to do. … You can't tell me she put in the time and proved she deserved the title shot."

Tate isn't alone in her criticism of women's MMA's biggest star. And have no doubt, Rousey has heard it.





[Related: Sarah Kaufman lacks Ronda Rousey's glamour, but that won't matter]





To those who are expecting her to get her comeuppance and to be put into her place by the heavy-handed Kaufman on Saturday, Rousey nearly snarls.

"Let them try to put me back into my place," an obviously agitated Rousey said as Showtime's preview show concluded. "Who are they to say where my place is? My place is at the top. I earned it and I'm here. Women being put in their place is part of what's wrong with this world."

That attitude, that ability to think on her feet, is what has made her such a star. No less than Dana White bubbles with enthusiasm when he speaks of Rousey. The UFC president is a guy, who has repeatedly dismissed the thought of a female division in his company because he said there aren't enough quality fighters.

But White's face was the first to appear on Showtime's two-part preview show. This is a guy who has feuded openly with Showtime and called its management all sorts of derogatory names.

That is what made his presence in part one of Showtime's "All Access: Ronda Rousey" so stunning.

"She's incredibly talented," White says, as the video cuts to a clip of Rousey catching Tate in that fight-ending, championship-winning arm bar. "She's mean, she's nasty and she's dangerous. She's got the whole package."

Later, White breaks into a wide grin and adds, "I will not miss a Ronda Rousey fight, ever. I'm a Ronda Rousey fan."

Rousey has much to prove, and though she won't say so, she knows it. It's one thing to win a title, but the greats of the game defend it multiple times.

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