Nothing is typical about the twenty eight year old, five foot seven inch tall powerhouse who weighs one hundred thirty five pounds and has taken the world of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) by storm. Rhonda Jean “Rowdy” Rouser became the first woman to sign with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) in November 2012. In all, she has had eleven wins and no losses since she became a fighter. Some attribute her fighting style and her barbell movement, while others point to a life built around never giving in to her circumstances. I say it’s both and I’m 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 wasn’t easy for Rhonda from the start. She had a speech problem that prevented her from speaking properly until she 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 happened to be a Hulk Hogan Wrestling Buddy. She always loved watching professional wrestling and she was a big fan of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. When she began her MMA career, Rhonda requested and received Piper’s permission to use the nickname “Rowdy” on her behalf. In 2015 she stepped out of the crowd at Wrestlemania and helped The Rock knock 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 probably triggered by a back injury that forced him to live in chronic pain. Shortly after that horrifying event, Rhonda Rousey made a startling discovery. While searching through some family albums, she discovered a scrapbook that revealed that her 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 trainer when Rhonda decided to train and eventually compete. The training process was painful. Rousey suffered injuries to her toe and elbow. She even got bitten by a dog while she was 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 to lose weight. Unable to catch up to her weight class, she returned home depressed and immediately faced with another challenge. Her mother, who may have felt that moving to Boston was a mistake in the first place, would not allow her 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. Rousey’s mother insisted on the kind of discipline that Rhonda described as “suffocating” and may have felt that Rousey had not 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. She also began smoking marijuana and using a prescription pain reliever to get through the day. Rhonda slept in her car until she found a very small studio apartment with bad plumbing. Her toilet flushed regularly leaving the place smelling the way she would expect given that situation. She also found a former drug addict boyfriend whom she dumped shortly after she 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 impolite language) that she was spoiled because she was wasting her looks and talent 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 a single. twenty three seconds. . At that moment a legend was born. She followed a string of quick wins and “Rowdy” won her first professional fight in 2011 by defeating Ediane Gomes with that same armbar 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 watched Rhonda’s rise in the world of professional MMA. In 2012, White got out of her own way and called Rousey to explain his plan to establish a women’s division of the UFC and build it around him. Rousey was excited and quickly accepted her offer. That changed her life in so many ways, including the difference between winning a mother four hundred dollars every time she fought for her 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 everyone who believes they’ve hit rock bottom with no chance of promotion. She shows that no matter where you come from or where you are, there is always a way out if you have the determination and will to overcome your circumstances. If you really want to get inspired, she reads her book, My Fight / Your Fight, now available everywhere and check out her last battle on August 1, 2015 against Bethe Correia. The two have become bitter rivals thanks to Bethe’s comments hinting that Rousey might kill herself like her father did if she loses. Good luck Round!