Ronda Rousey Admits Holly Holm Loss Was Career-Defining


Ronda Rousey has been on a road to recovery after her loss against Holly Holm, but it looks like she still has ways to go. Not only is Ronda reeling from the fact that she will not be the “person that could have won it all,” she is also shaking from the fact that she has put such high expectations of herself.

The 29-year-old fighter is one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People this year, but in the interview, she chose to speak up about the fact that she is in a rough period in her career.

I’m still grieving the person that could have won it all. But I have to live up to the fact that I’m not her, that’s just who I’d like to be, and instead I’m what I need to be, for myself and everyone else,” Ronda said to Time.

Tina Fey wrote a heart-wrenching piece for Time, hinting that because of her loss to Holly Holm, she will become the human hero for girls everywhere.

“Imagine if we could teach our daughters to value their bodies for what they can do, not for how others think they look,” wrote Tina Fey for Time’s 100 Most Influential People 2016. “Could Ronda be the one to finally help us understand that as females, we define the word feminine and that it doesn’t define us? If we don’t listen, can she dislocate our arms at the elbow?”

Ronda has been making leaps and bounds in promoting feminism and giving voice to female athletes. Her athletic body, outspoken tendencies, and knack for speaking her mind has drawn the world’s attention to the MMA fighter, showing that she is, as she put it, not a “do-nothing b****.”

But there is no question that her first loss in her MMA career has been devastating for her psyche and spirit.

“Holly Holm didn’t just take Ronda Rousey’s UFC bantamweight title last year,” reports the Washington Post. “She took the previously undefeated fighter’s sense of invincibility, and Rousey is clearly struggling to come to terms with not being the near-superhero that many people — including herself — saw her as.”

During her video interview with Time, she didn’t forget to add a more optimistic point of view, hinting that right now she may not be fit to reclaim the championship belt, but that the time will come.

“You have to go through those stages of acceptance and renewed optimism,” Rousey said. “You need to find that doe-eyed part of you that walked into an arena the first time and saw all the lights and thought, like, ‘One day that’s going to be me, that’s going to have my name up there.’ ‘One day I’m going to slap my stomach and I’m going to feel there’s metal under there,’ you know? That’s what I need to find again.”

On the other hand, Holly Holm has not been able the enjoy the belt for very long either. She lost to Miesha Tate, after a rather anti-climactic period of time that she was the reigning champion. Since then, Holly also has been focusing on training and positivity.

As a method of diverting her attention away from her loss to Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey has been engaging with popular culture more and more. On her roster of appearances, she has now hosted Saturday Night Live, been on multiple spreads of Sports Illustrated, been on talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, and appeared in Hollywood movies. But that doesn’t mean that she will stop her 15 minutes of fame right here.

I want to be in Walking Dead because I’m really big into post-apocalyptic things anyway,” Rousey said according to Comicbook. “It’d be kind of fun.”

How long do you think it will take Ronda to recover from her loss to Holly Holm? Let me know in the comments below!

[Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images]

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