On Meeting Ronda Rousey and Her Book Our Fight

For those who have been living under a rock, Ronda Rousey is a pioneer in 3 different women's sports.

From Biography.com:

Ronda Rousey became a judo champion, earning back-to-back golds at the Pan American Championships and a 2008 Olympic bronze medal. Rousey joined the mixed martial arts circuit in 2010, and helped bring female mixed martial arts to a mainstream audience en route to becoming the first UFC women's champion. On January 28, 2018, following months of speculation, Rousey confirmed she was joining World Wrestling Entertainment. There she helped elevate the women's division by headlining the first ever women's wrestling PPV for WWE, Evolution and being one of the first in the women's main event of Wrestlemania.

I read Ronda's first book My Fight/Your Fight and enjoyed it. However, it felt a little disconnected. Upon reading Our Fight, I was compelled by the passion that the book held. Our Fight gets deep into the woman behind the big name as Ronda recounts some of the difficult times in her life including back-to-back losses in UFC and then multiple miscarriages on her route to trying to have a baby. She also details what she wanted out of her WWE career and how the powers that be at the time kept shutting her down.

Ronda's been through alot but has an amazing mindset and focus to achieve greatness which often winds up putting alot of pressure on her to reach a certain level. But it's that type of work ethic that separates Ronda from the haters and trolls online constantly trying to point out her short comings.

Society has a sickness where they will get behind someone on their rise to the top in true Rocky fashion UNTIL they actually reach their goal. During the climb the fans get behind the talent because they see themselves in the underdog. But once the talent actually achieves their goal the fans hate them for it because it holds up a mirror to all their short comings. Suddenly their praise turns to venom and they want nothing more than to see the talent fail so they can once again rest in their mediocrity. They did it to Ronda, to Conor McGregor, to many. They've already started to turn on Cody Rhodes who for over a year was the golden good guy of WWE as he chased the championship. But as soon as he "finished the story" the fans have become "bored" and already want someone new in his place only to turn on them as well.

Thing is, most of the online hate Rousey gets is from...

1. Has-beens cherry picking soundbytes to get clicks on their content (negativity rules social media afterall)

2. Never-gonna-bes who can't stand seeing anyone reach the top (history will never remember their names)

3. The uninformed who only hear things second-hand...to you I say read Our Fight and you'll get a better understanding of who Ronda Rousey is as a real person and not a poster.

For example: in WWE she never even wanted the title. She wanted to be like her hero and namesake "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and be the biggest heel in the company. A mountain for the other women to climb which would effectively elevate them to new heights. This is why when I met her and said she should've been a heel (badguy) she replied with "I know, right!"

Instead, creative made her a babyface (goodguy) who went out there and smiled at everyone which is completely off brand for her. Plus, this tactic has never worked in the past yet every idea Ronda gave them, they shot it down. Perhaps if her last WWE run had been under Paul "Triple H" Levesque (the current head of creative content) things would've been different.

As for the woman herself, I can tell you first-hand she's a genuinely down-to-earth, nice person. She's the type of person who you'd want to hangout with and play video games while discussing Lord of the Rings!

People knock her because they ain't her. But you cannot deny what she's done in multiple sports. Those who try to pick apart her victories are insulting her opponents at the same time. Like it or not, Ronda Rousey is a trailblazer. There would be no women in the UFC if not for Rousey. There would've been no women's main event at Wrestlemania 35 if not for Rousey. Those are facts. The other stuff online is just clickbait.

Pick up Our Fight and find out for yourself.