Nothing is typical about the twenty-eight-year-old, five-foot-seven-inch-tall powerhouse who weighs one hundred and thirty-five pounds and has taken the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) world by storm. Rhonda Jean “Rowdy” Rouser became the first woman to sign with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) in November 2012. In total, she has had eleven wins and no losses since becoming a fighter. Some attribute his fighting style and armbar movement, while others point to a life built around never giving in to his circumstances. I say she is both and I am inspired by this woman who never gives up or lets life drag her down.
Born in Riverside County, California and raised with her two older sisters and one younger sister in Jamestown, North Dakota, life was not easy for Rhonda from the start. He had a speech problem that did not allow him to speak properly until he was four years old. Her father committed suicide when she was only eight years old. Both had been closed. Ron took her on hikes regularly and even bought Rhonda her first doll, which turned out to be a Hulk Hogan Wrestling Buddy. She always loved watching professional wrestling and was a huge fan of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. When she began her MMA career, Rhonda requested and received permission from Piper to use the nickname “Rowdy” in her name. In 2015, she stepped out of the crowd at Wrestlemania and helped The Rock get Stephanie McMahon and Triple H out of the ring. Whether orchestrated or not, it was a huge moment for her and her fans.
Ron’s suicide was unexpected, but was likely caused by a back injury that forced him to live with chronic pain. Shortly after that horrific event, Rhonda Rousey made an amazing discovery. While looking through some family albums, he discovered a scrapbook revealing that his mother, AnnMaria De Mars, had been a judo champion with a sixth degree black belt. In 1984, AnnMaria was the first American to hold a world judo championship. Rhonda’s mother later became her coach when Rhonda decided to train and eventually compete. The training process was painful. Rousey suffered injuries to her toe and elbow. She was even bitten by a dog while running a few days before a competition.
Rhonda made the difficult decision to drop out of school at the age of sixteen and move away from her family to train in Boston to compete in the 2004 Olympics. During that time she had trouble losing weight and began purging herself to lose weight. Unable to make her weight class, she returned home depressed and immediately faced another challenge. His mother, who may have felt that moving to Boston was a mistake in the first place, would not allow him to live at home without a job. A once quite close relationship between the two had become very strained. Things got worse when Rousey competed in the 2008 Olympics and went on to win a bronze medal. Her mother insisted on the kind of discipline that Rhonda described as “stifling” and may have felt that Rousey hadn’t fully committed to a proper training routine.
Rousey rebelled by taking her $10,000 prize from the Olympics and moving to Los Angeles. She took a job as a waitress and started partying as hard as she could. At the age of twenty-one, the once self-disciplined athlete began smoking cigarettes and abusing alcohol. He also began smoking marijuana and using a prescription pain reliever to get him through the day. Rhonda slept in her car until she found a very small studio apartment with bad plumbing. His toilet backed up regularly leaving the place smelling the way you’d expect given that situation. She also found a former drug addict boyfriend whom she dumped shortly after he relapsed into heroin and stole a car. All this went on for about a year.
Rousey eventually found better digs in the form of a house near the beach. A friend told her (in crude language) that she was spoiled because she was wasting her looks and talents on a destructive lifestyle and poor boyfriend choices. Inspired by the criticism and ready for a change, Rhonda decided she would pursue a career in mixed martial arts and had her first amateur match in 2010. She used what has become her signature armbar move to defeat Hayden Munoz in singles. twenty three seconds. . At that moment a legend was born. A series of quick wins followed and “Rowdy” won her first professional fight in 2011 by defeating Ediane Gomes with that same arm bar move in twenty-five seconds.
Rousey soon found a powerful ally in the form of a man who once said he would never allow women to compete in the UFC. Dana White is a man who recognizes talent and that’s just what happened when he saw Rhonda’s rise in the world of professional MMA. In 2012, White went out of her way and called Rousey to explain her plan to establish a UFC women’s division and build it around her. Rousey was excited and quickly accepted his offer. That changed his life in many ways, including the difference between winning a mother four hundred dollars every time he fought for his current paycheck, which has ballooned to a million dollars a game. She has also started working as a model and appears in Fast and Furious 7 with Vin Diesel.
“Rowdy” Rhonda Rousey is a hero to me and she should be to anyone who thinks they’ve hit rock bottom with no chance of promotion. She proves that no matter where you come from or where you are, there is always a way out if you have the determination and the will to overcome your circumstances. If you really want to get inspired, read her book, My Fight/Your Fight, now available everywhere and watch her last fight on August 1, 2015 against Bethe Correia. The two have become bitter rivals thanks to Bethe’s comments hinting that Rousey could kill herself like her father if she loses. Good luck Ronda!
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