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Getty Bethe Correia & Ronda Rousey
The first UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, recently admitted that she had stayed in MMA for too long as an active fighter.
Rousey, 35, competed as a professional mixed martial artist from 2011 to 2016 and posted a record of 12-2. The judoka also won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
She joined the UFC as a 6-0 Strikeforce 135-pound champion and was promoted to the undisputed UFC Bantamweight Queen. She defended her belt six times in promotion, stopping the likes of Meisha Tate, Cat Zingano and Sara McMann.
However, Rousey’s last two fights have been very different. Holly Holm took her strap at UFC 193 in November 2015 by brutal KO. And at UFC 207, Amanda Nunes stopped her with strikes in under a minute in December 2016.
That was the last time Rowdy entered the Octagon. She is now a WWE Superstar who has dabbled in Hollywood and she also has a YouTube channel where she posts content such as judo techniques and games.
Rousey said her mistake was that she kept fighting “for everyone else.”
Rousey was recently featured on The DC Check-In, a YouTube interview series by former UFC second division champion Daniel Cormier. And during their conversation, “Rowdy” opened up about her fighting career, telling “DC” that she’s been fighting for too long to appease “everyone else.”
“I think it was difficult [to quit] in both judo and MMA as everyone else felt like they wanted more from me,” Rousey said via MMA Fighting. “In judo, for example, you reach your peak in your mid-20s. I won a medal when I was 21, so I would be 25 at the next Olympics. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, that’s it! You will be the first [American woman] to win Olympic gold!’ And I didn’t want to do it anymore, and I couldn’t do it for everyone else.
“And I think that’s a mistake I made with MMA. When I got to the point where I didn’t want it anymore, I just kept doing it for everyone else.”
Rowdy said, “You have to be a people pleaser” when competing at the highest level
Continuing with her thoughts, Rousey said she felt she had to please everyone, from her parents to the fans watching at home. And in some places that appeared as an “obstacle” for rowdy.
“I think to be at this top level you have to please people,” Rousey said. “You want to please your coach, you want to please your parents, you want to please all viewers. And so it’s one of those things that sets you apart, but it’s one of those things that can often be a hindrance. And knowing when is the right time to walk away has to be your decision, because not everyone else will come to a consensus. And nobody knows what you are actually going through and what it actually takes.
“You’re like a novelty on TV every few months, while that’s your everyday life and your reality. And yeah I think the hardest part was setting boundaries with that relationship with everyone else and not doing things for them and doing things for you even though you’re not understood, I think that was the hardest part – to let go of this need to feel understood because no one will ever do that.”
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