Seemingly undefeated Rousey has battled her inner demons in her longest fight yet. Her mother taught her everything she knows about judo, but she was never taught how to deal with losing a fight or feelings of disappointment.
Those feelings caught up with her in her late 20s. She was overwhelmed into a two-year-long depression. She recalls crying a lot and isolating herself, and Browne holding her and pulling her through it all. “I couldn’t have done it alone,” she said in a Los Angeles Times interview.
Kids Are Brutal
Being a teenage girl is hard (even as a world-class athlete) and Ronda was no different. Her strong muscles and sturdy form got other kids talking about her and teasing her. Not very smart considering the fact she could knock them all out without breaking a sweat, but the words got to her and they hurt really bad.
She had a lot to overcome mentally, only to be attacked by the memories after losing to Holm. When that happened, Rousey started having some dark thoughts about taking her own life.
Opening up to Ellen
It's hard to imagine someone as strong as Rousey break down, but it's important to remember that she is simply human. When coming on the Elle DeGeneres show in 2016, Ronda opened up about the dark place she was in after losing to Holm.
She emotionally spoke about feeling like she had nothing left to live for after this. But according to her, in that second, she looked up at Browne, who was at her side, and realized there was more to life than winning fights. Rousey showing her vulnerable side was an inspiration to anyone who has ever felt the same.
Never Call Her a "Do Nothing"
"UFC 190 Embedded" is a documentary-style show that goes behind the scenes and into the personal lives of UFC fighters. When appearing on the show, Rousey said that her mother raised her to never become a "Do Nothing".
The term is often abbreviated by Ronda as 'DNB' (the B stands for an expletive word you can probably guess). Basically, it means she doesn't know how to be lazy.
An ESPY Princess
Despite the "Body Issue" fiasco, Rousey didn't cut ties with ESPN. In fact, she has even attended the ESPY Awards several times. The ESPY's (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) is like the Oscar's for athletes, and Rousey's accomplishments were celebrated with three ESPY Awards over the years.
She won the Best Female Athlete Award two years in a row (2014 and 2015), and a Best Fighter Award (2015). In fact, Rousey was the only female nominee for the latter.