Ronda Rousey's meteoric rise to fame

FILE - This July 15, 2015, file photo shows mixed martial arts fighter Ronda Rousey working out at Glendale Fighting Club in Glendale, Calif. Photo / AP.

"Rowdy" Ronda Rousey is enjoying a meteoric rise to fame few stars of slightly obscure sports can dream of, least of all a female fighter.

The straight talking American MMA fighter has a string of victories under her belt and a burgeoning film career to her name.

She's managed to make the unlikely crossover from martial arts champ to film star, with recent roles in Furious 7 and Entourage, for which she's receiving mainly positive reviews.

But it's her first love, Ultimate Fighting, where she truly dominates; the bantamweight champion is an absolute powerhouse in the cage.

In her four year career as a UFC fighter, only one opponent has managed to make it to the second round with Rousey and none have ever beaten her.

She secured victory in her last three fights with a combined total time of 96 seconds - two of the bouts were won in 30 seconds flat.

Her signature move is the armbar, a judo move which she has used to win the majority of her matches, leading to commentators dubbing her the 'arm collector'.

Rousey said winning has been her focus from a young age.

"It started when I was a kid, with my mum, when I was at a judo tournament," she told the Herald earlier this year.

"Instead of letting me play around with all the other kids -- a lot of the kids I would be fighting would sit under the table playing little hand games and stuff like that -- my mum would be grabbing me and pulling me away from the kids to sit me down in the corner and be like: 'Sit there and think about winning'

"I would not be able to joke around. I would have to focus and I just got taught when it's time to focus, it's time to focus."

Now, Rousey is being touted by some as the most dominant female athlete of all time, a somewhat brazen call given this is the same year tennis great Serena Williams is on track to win a calendar grand slam.

While Rousey's explosion onto the professional fighting scene is impressive, she hasn't yet had the time to prove she's got the longevity Williams has.

In July, Rousey took home two ESPY sport awards, one for best fighter and one for best female athlete.

Critics at the time questioned why she took out the best female athlete award over Williams, who was in the process of securing yet another Grand Slam win.

That night Rousey also took a dig dig at boxer Floyd Mayweather, who lost out in the best fighter category and has a history of violence against women.

"I wonder how Floyd feels being beat by a woman for once," Rousey said to ESPN reporters after her win.

The jibe was typical of the straight up attitude Rousey is known and admired for.
Case in point is her catchphrase, Do Nothing B**ch, the kind of woman she said her mother raised her not to be.

A 'DNB' "tries to be pretty and be taken care of by someone else," rather than achieve their own goals, Rousey said.

She's currently trying to have the phrase trademarked.