Just about five months ago, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White assuaged the concerns of women's mixed martial arts (MMA) fans, telling NYPost.com that his blonde box office bombshell, Ronda Rousey, would not be lured away from the Octagon by the bright (and lucrative) Tinseltown lights.
"Where she's really going to get the money is here fighting," he said. "She would not make anywhere near -- I mean, not even in the universe -- to the money she makes fighting."
Let's fast forward to today (Aug. 7, 2013), with Rousey in final talks to appear in "Fast & Furious 7," according to Variety.com. This on top of being offered a role in "The Hunger Games 2" and booking a high-profile appearance in "Expendables 3."
And let's not forget the recent Maxim cover (see pics here) or inclusion in ESPN "The Body."
In other words, White might want to reconsider his prediction from earlier this year -- the "Rowdy" brand is big -- and getting bigger -- thanks to her success inside the Octagon, as well as her well-connected talent agent, William Morris Endeavor (WME).
That's the same "Hollywood" talent agent who played hard ball with White on the eve of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 18 production, which had Rousey thinking she'd been axed from the show when her rival, Miesha Tate, arrived on the set without notice.
Rousey has already revealed that she is taking her UFC 168 training camp on the road (details here), acting on the set of "Expendables 3" by day and preparing for her Tate rematch by night. It seemed like an arduous task, but now if the "Fast & Furious 7" deal goes through as expected, she'll reportedly do double-time.
That means back-to-back acting gigs for two major film franchises, both of which have garnered more than a combined $1 billion worldwide in their most recent incarnations (Expendables 2 + Fast & Furious 6), squeezed in before a co-main event title fight on Dec. 28, 2013.
A Bantamweight championship match that she can expect to make around $100,000 (with a win), excluding pay-per-view (PPV) points, undisclosed discretionary bonuses and sponsorships.