Ronda Rousey has all the tools and the desire to become the ultimate sports star. She’s talented, she has immediate presence, she’s an Olympian, and she’s passionate.

But it wasn’t always like that. She had to overcome the death of her father and brain damage.

Even becoming an Olympian didn’t give her the opportunity to achieve success in her life. “There’s nothing put in place for Olympians after they’re done.” Rousey told the Business Insider. “They give you a couple grand, a handshake and they kick your ass out the door.”

So she had to do something quick to turn her fortunes around. Then she decided to become an MMA fighter and the rest they say is history. Rousey won her first fight in convincing fashion: in 25 seconds!

“I need to win and I need to do this quick because I’m tired of living with the cockroaches and eating frozen vegetables.” Rousey was quoted as saying. She recently graced the cover of ESPN’s Body Issue. He fame is now through the roof.

Rousey quickly became known for her fearless fighting style and her patented trash talk giving to celebrities like Michael Phelps and Kim Kardashian.

In an interview with Jim Rome, Rousey said: “For girls it raises your testosterone so I try to have as much sex as possible before I fight, actually. Not with like everybody. I don’t put out Craigslist ads or anything. But if I got a steady I’m going to be like, ‘Yo, fight time’s coming up.”

She is currently with the UFC and is set to fight one of her toughest opponents yet Christane “Cyborg” Santos sometime in 2013.