Ronda Rousey by no means needed to be something lower than the perfect.
That mentality was drilled into her from a really younger age. She first needed to be a swim champion after which ultimately adopted in her mom’s footsteps to change into one of many high judokas in the USA. She lastly achieved her final dream when she turned the primary ever UFC ladies’s bantamweight champion, then defended that belt six consecutive occasions.
Nonetheless, her reign ended with an emphatic thud as soon as Holly Holm knocked her unconscious at UFC 193 again in 2015, and that was the final time Rousey touched gold as an expert fighter. Almost 9 years later, Rousey mirrored on that second and defined why dropping that night time affected her so profoundly.
“I cared about that title greater than anyone ever has,” Rousey stated at a Q&A throughout her current e-book tour. “It damage me greater than anyone that’s ever been damage by dropping it. That’s why I used to be in a position to defend a lot for thus lengthy.”
As a lot because it pained her dropping that combat, Rousey knew that was at all times a risk, however that’s a value she was keen to pay to attain her desires.
She is aware of it’s onerous for anyone on the surface wanting in to essentially sympathize with the extent of agony she endured after dropping that combat. In fact, Rousey is aware of she’s not alone in feeling devastated after such a crushing defeat, however not all people operates at that very same degree, which is why it’s onerous for these individuals to know how a lot it damage her.
“It’s onerous for lots of people to know, to have one thing imply that a lot to you,” Rousey stated. “It’s like, ‘Why are you so upset? It’s only a combat.’ Effectively, it’s simply anyone else’s combat to you, however I believe one factor that’s actually essential for those who’re going to be a fighter at an especially excessive degree, or an athlete, or somebody who runs a enterprise, or something like that, you need to be keen to get your coronary heart damaged with the intention to put each fiber of your being into one thing.
“You’re going to know whether or not the whole lot you’ve is nice sufficient. I believe that lots of people have this tendency to protect themselves and never put the whole lot on the market, and when it doesn’t work out, you’re like, ‘Effectively, it wasn’t the whole lot I had, I might have completed it if I gave it the whole lot I had.’”
Rousey’s willingness to sacrifice the whole lot allowed her to change into a dominant UFC champion, however that very same ardour drove her right into a deep despair after the loss.
“It’s as a result of I care that a lot,” Rousey stated. “Caring greater than the opposite individual. Caring greater than anyone else is a bonus, however it will likely be what comes again to chunk you if it doesn’t work out.”
Following that loss, Rousey basically disappeared from the general public eye. That was undoubtedly by design.
She didn’t need to see anybody or have anybody see her in that state, however Rousey credit her husband, veteran UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, for pulling her out of that pit.
“It was a number of crepes and chocolate and crying and World of Warcraft, and simply not speeding it,” Rousey stated of how she handled the loss. “I simply allowed it to suck for so long as it wanted to, however I additionally would have change into a Golem cave creature if it wasn’t for my husband.
“He was like, ‘It’s good to go outdoors and get some espresso.’ I’m like, ‘There’s TMZ cameras,’ and he made me go outdoors and have all of the TMZ footage taken. He made me go outdoors and chunk the bullet and get their rattling footage, as a result of they have been like tenting outdoors my home for 2 weeks.”
Even after she ventured outdoors once more, Rousey didn’t escape reminders concerning the combat, her loss, or the knockout, however at the very least she will be able to discuss it now.
“Whereas I used to be getting my root canal as a result of I received all my tooth knocked out, I used to be pressured to put there and watch TV, getting 4 root canals directly, and TMZ comes on blasting me going to get espresso,” Rousey stated with fun. “Like, ‘Have a look at this loser getting her espresso!’ I used to be like, ‘That is hell.’”
