15 athletes who are pop culture superfans
![BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunks during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at the 2015 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on February 14, 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunks during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at the 2015 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on February 14, 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/ede0ab6e10d5c7b3db50c3c694b82a26c32e904ae6d5a5e5cd9bf2cd4d87a115.jpg)
12. Ronda Rousey: Video games
Ronda Rousey will go down as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts history and one of the top athletes of our generation. She paved the way for female fighters in the UFC, brought pay-per-view sales to new heights and held one of the most dominant championship reigns we’ve ever seen until the rest of the game caught up to her ridiculously high level of skill. In honor of all this, she’s been inducted into the UFC hall of fame.
Now, she fights in the WWE, surely lining her pockets nicely while still only fighting in the biggest events. She seems happy, which is good news because she had a tough go for a few years after losing her belt.
Despite possessing every ability imaginable to beat you up, Rousey is a huge nerd (I say this lovingly from one nerd to another). Rousey is an avid World of Warcraft player, even being featured in a commercial for the game. She frequently played the game with Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel.
Rousey was also recently featured on Discovery Channel’s ultra-popular Shark Week. Her and a team of shark experts where she went face to face with a Mako shark, handling the situation with poise and expertise.
Rousey’s nerd-meter tops out at being a moderator for a Pokémon message board. Her profile lists a handful of games that will make you bleed nostalgia, such as Zelda, Rayman, Kindom Hearts, Jak and Daxter among others. And yes, she was as obsessed with Ocarina of Time as you were, even claiming to dream about the game in between sessions as well as feeling that constant sense of impending doom while playing Majora’s Mask.
To moderate a message board like this, you need to possesses vast knowledge of the game, which she obviously has. Speaking of Pokémon…