UFC and MMA News: Ronda Rousey Shares Her Love for MMA; Anthony Pettis Hailed as New Lightweight King By Sherdog

UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey talked about her journey from an Olympic medal-winning judoka to a full-fledged MMA phenom in an interview with ESPN Women last week.

Rousey, the first woman to sign with UFC and subsequently hold the promotions' maiden women's bantamweight title, discussed the beginning of her love affair with mixed martial and arts and how it changed her life forever.

Coming off a bronze medal finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rousey decided to step away from her judo career and explore other things in life. Little did she know that she was going to find her perfect match.

In August of 2010 at a fight club in Oxnard, Calif. Rousey had her first taste of MMA war. Rousey, armed with a repertoire of Judo techniques, wasted only 23 seconds to submit her opponent Hayden Munoz. From that point, the arm bar queen was born.

"I felt like I was in a movie," Rousey said of her amateur MMA debut. "I never had a whole room of people cheering for me. ... I was used to getting booed. After fighting in two Olympics, it shouldn't really compare."

Rousey could have won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, but for her, becoming a full-time MMA fighter was worth the risk.

"I didn't think it was worth being miserable for four years so I could possibly be happy for one day," Rousey said of a potential third trip to the Olympics. "The misery wasn't worth what I would get out of it."

Rousey is scheduled to face old rival Miesha Tate for the UFC women's bantamweight title in the undercard of the Chris Weidman-Anderson Silva rematch at UFC 168 in December.

Meanwhile, MMA website Sherdog crowned a new lightweight MMA king in Anthony Pettis following his sensational first-round victory (submission - arm bar) over Ben Henderson at UFC 164.

Pettis, previously pitted to fight UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, moved up to welterweight for another showdown with Henderson in front of a boisterous home crowd in Milwaukee. Pettis now holds 2-0 head-to-head record over Henderson (ranked No. 2), but the MMA Lab product will remain a relevant contender in the lightweight division.