Ronda Rousey

[David Jamieson]

She is fast becoming the 8th Wonder of the World.

Women that can fight and fight well are an oddity.

She deserves her propers though. So far, I like her a lot!

[Jimbo]

Women that can fight and fight well are an oddity.

She deserves her propers though. So far, I like her a lot!

True, but in my experience and observation, those women who can fight well tend to fight VERY well.

[GeneChing]

Ronda has her own section there now. I guess all the big celebs do.

RONDA ROUSEY ADDRESSES HER FLOYD MAYWEATHER REMARKS

RONDA ROUSEY DEMANDS HER HOT WINGS AFTER A FIGHT

Check out the web exclusive GEEKING OUT: RONDA ROUSEY TALKS VIDEO GAMES. She's slinging Tai Chi Panda.

Watch Ronda Rousey Challenge Jimmy Fallon to a 'Mario Kart' Rematch
"I heard that your finger almost fell off, and I was like, 'Thank God,'" UFC champ tells 'Tonight Show' host ahead of video game battle

BY SCOTT RAFFERTY October 7, 2015



At this point, we're reasonably sure Floyd Mayweather knows who Ronda Rousey is – after all, how can he be so sure he makes more money than her? But just in case the recently retired boxing champ ever forgets, Ronda has a plan to refresh his memory, as she explained to Jimmy Fallon during a Tuesday night appearance on The Tonight Show.

"I haven't got any like texts or calls [from him], nothing like that," she said. "I mean, he still maintains that he has no clue who I am, so every time I run into him I'm gonna reintroduce myself. Maybe one day he'll actually remember me."

Rousey stopped by to promote her upcoming fight with Holly Holm at UFC 193, and perhaps even reveal a kinder, gentler side. Because while her recent bouts have been heavy on the trash talk, the lead-up to this one has been remarkably different. When Fallon asked Rousey about Holm, she was effusive with the compliments, talking up Holm's boxing credentials and calling her "an amazing athlete," and even went so far as to call her opponent "a nice chick," before adding, "a nice chick who's going to lose."

Of course, all the pleasantries went out the window when Fallon brought up his recent rout of Rousey at Mario Kart 8.

"I mopped the floor with you," he joked.

"I never played that version ever before! When I left I was so upset I went and bought a Wii, I was like 'I'm going to Mario Kart camp! I'm going to be ready,'" Rousey said. "And then I heard that your finger almost fell off, and I was like, 'Thank God.' You're going to be out of practice, and I'm going to be training, but when you heal up – it's on!"

That dress. Wow.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Yeah, she can certainly rock the decolletage !
LOL
It seems that everywhere you go, She is there and I am getting a bit worried about that. There is such a thing as too much press.
Still, always nice to see her.
That said, I do miss the times when fighters used to let their fighting to the talking.

[mickey]

Greetings,

If she is receiving a percentage of the pay per view, then I understand her TV appearances. If she isn't, then she is being pimped.

mickey

[Jimbo]

According to Ronda, she is the highest-paid UFC fighter, and she's almost certainly correct. There are no other current MMA fighters, male or female, who are in such demand as she is right now. She is everywhere. So I seriously doubt she's being pimped. If it were a male fighter in the same position, I don't think anyone would even use the word pimped.

*edit to add:
I think Ronda is making some very smart business moves. She's fully aware that a fighting career is very brief, and is taking full advantage of the opportunities coming her way.

[mickey]

Greetings,

I would actually use that word regardless of gender if the fighter in not getting a piece of the pay per view and is going around promoting the fight. There is soooo much money to be made with these events. I wish the fighters get their fair share. Whatever Rhonda gets will, for the most part, get eaten up by her team. I hope she has negotiated well for herself.

mickey

[GeneChing]

Ronda Rousey Shares Why She’s The Best Fighter In The World
"And I don't want the word woman to be in front of champion ."



“I love feeling like I’m inhabiting the body of a ninja,” Rousey says, “like I could rob a liquor store with my bare hands if I wanted to.”

UFC champion Ronda Rousey is, pound for pound, the best fighter in the world—male or female. Her record is 12–0, and every few months a chiseled contender dashes in for a shot at glory, or at least headlines. The foolish ones spend the lead-up to the main event yapping about how she is beatable. The wise pray for divine intervention (A leg cramp? A power outage?), then collect their paychecks in defeat with a shrug of the shoulders—if they’re still able to move them. A jab to the face, a knee to the liver and her signature arm bar move to end it: Rousey once won a fight in 14 seconds flat. And when she retires, years from now, she will go out as one of the greatest athletes in any sport.

But Rousey’s utter dominance of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is not why she’s been cast in Furious 7, Entourage and the upcoming remake of Road House, in which she will reimagine Patrick Swayze’s iconic role. It’s not why Ellen DeGeneres invites her onto her talk show for a girls’ gabfest, or why her memoir, My Fight/Your Fight, has become a national best seller. Millions of people who are put off by blood sports find themselves strangely captivated by her. “It’s about more than just fighting,” she says. Indeed.

Rousey, 28, is beloved because she’s the ultimate underdog—her toughness, heart and epic backstory have turned her into a symbol of strength. After a traumatic birth that deprived her of oxygen and caused brain damage, she suffered from a speech impediment so severe that she could not form a coherent sentence until she was 6. But she fought through that hell, and perhaps because of it her words are now as sharp as her jabs. “Even if they don’t know it, everyone has the instinct to survive,” she says.

That kind of grit comes from her mother, AnnMaria De Mars, a world judo champion turned psychology professor. (Her father committed suicide when she was 8; she fought and survived that loss, too.)

As an adult, she’s gone to the Olympics twice, winning a bronze in judo in Beijing in 2008. She’s also skewered critics who say her figure is too manly by pointing out that every muscle in her body has a purpose, none of which involves attracting a guy. This attitude has earned her legions of fans, including one named Beyoncé, who played an audio clip of Rousey riffing on the virtues of female independence at a sold-out concert in Philadelphia in September. Rousey says, “That she would use my words is the highest compliment I could possibly be paid by somebody I respect.”

At one point, Rousey was so broke that she slept in her car. She now lives in Venice, California, and is most likely (there are no official numbers) the highest-paid fighter in her sport, with endorsements from fast food chains, shoe companies and more. “I want my name to be mentioned along with Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali,” she says. “And I don’t want the word woman to be in front of champion.”
UFC champion Ronda Rousey


“You have to have a big heart and be so full of love that you fight for it,” Rousey says.

Comedian Chelsea Peretti considers herself a Rousey superfan. “Ronda fearlessly speaks her mind,” she says. “I can see how her physical strength is powered by mental strength.” Peretti, 37, is known for her role on Brooklyn Nine-Nine—and for her no-holds-barred sense of humor. “We both dislike being typified by our gender,” she says. “Plus, we’re both beautiful blondes! Just kidding—I’m not blonde.” The duo talked about what it means to be a strong woman in 2015.

CHELSEA PERETTI  How does it feel to be the most famous badass in America?
RONDA ROUSEY  I like being given that label, but I wouldn’t give it to myself.

CP  What’s your definition of a badass?
RR  Someone who’s willing to do what needs to be done. There are plenty of times where people know and they don’t do it—because it’s not comfortable or easy. If you do what’s right regardless of how it’s going to make you look, then you’re really a badass.

CP  You’re objectively the best in your sport—how does that make you feel?
RR  It’s motivating, because it’s something I have to keep earning. When I was a kid, all I did was train. I never went to a dance, I never had a date, I never went to a single party. Training was my whole life, and it was because I wanted to be able to win the Olympics more than I wanted to go to the movies with my friends. It’s funny, because people get offended by the mind-set that it takes to be the best.

CP  What do you mean?
RR  If I say that I’m the best in the world, sometimes people think that’s really ****y and arrogant, but I had to work hard to be able to believe in myself. In your teens, you start to become super self-conscious. I had to build that up.

CP  Did you ever get in street fights as a teen?
RR  Yes. Santa Monica didn’t used to be so nice! After school, my friend and I would go to the Promenade, where a lot of shady characters hung out. I loved Frappuccinos, but I only got $5 a day for lunch. If I ate, that meant I didn’t have enough money for a Frappuccino. So we would go over to these kids and say, “I bet you $10 I could beat up any one of you.” There were always some guys who could use the money. We’d fight and I’d do something to get them to give up, and they’d give us $10 and we’d go get Frappuccinos…. That was, like, my side gig for a little while.

CP  I don’t think anyone would take that $10 today.
RR  Well, I don’t fight for Frappuccinos anymore, either.

CP  Do any fighting strategies carry over into daily life?
RR  The one that really sticks out in my mind comes from my mom. She’d always tell me that you have to be your best on your worst day, because what if the Olympics fall on a bad day?

CP  What else did you learn from her? A lot of girls aren’t brought up to fight.
RR  Well, my mom never forced us to do anything. I fight, but my three sisters don’t. What she really taught me was the value of giving up what you want now for what you want most. My sisters were taught that, too, and they carried it through the professions they decided to pursue.

CP  How do you wind down after a fight?
RR  I eat about 50 hot wings. I love hot wings. After my last fight, one of the UFC owners flew in a private chef from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro so that he could make me hot wings, because there are no hot wings in Rio! That’s how important they are to me.

CP  Those were some expensive hot wings.
RR  They were really good, though.

CP  Do you let other people eat them, too?
RR  The thing is, you’ve got to let me eat a couple before anyone else has any, because otherwise I’ll start eating faster. It’s a race to see who can eat the most. I’m so competitive, I even compete with hot wings.

CP  What’s downtime like for you?
RR  I’ll wake up, eat my little chia bowl, train. Then get a sandwich, go home and make out with my dog, watch TV shows about how the universe was made while playing Taichi Panda. If you have crazy, crazy days, doing nothing is such a luxury.

Read the rest of the interview by downloading SELF’s digital edition now.


Top: Top; PrabalGurung.com for similar styles. Bra, $62; BaseRange.net. Briefs, $234 for set; CaffeSwimwear.com. On ninja: Sweatshirt, Calvin Klein Jeans; CalvinKlein.com for similar styles. Pants, $190; NormaKamali.com. Shoes, Feiyue, $65; Feiyue-Shoes.com

Center: Swimsuit, $475; ProenzaSchouler.com

Styled by Melissa Ventosa Martin. Hair, Charles McNair for Kérastase; makeup, Carola Gonzales for Sisley Paris; manicure, Lisa Pena-Wong for Dior Vernis; prop styling, Anthony Asaro for 11th St Workshop; production, Brandon Zagha for Brachfeld.

Holy Cats! She's wearing Feiyues!

[GeneChing]

I haven't read The Ring in years. Maybe I'll have to pick this one up.

Rousey becomes first MMA fighter to land Ring Magazine cover
Ronda Rousey will grace the cover of the January 2016 issue of Ring Magazine, becoming the first ever MMA fighter to be featured on the cover of the historic boxing magazine not to mention only the second time in history a woman has been featured on the cover.


Ronda Rousey adds another accolade to her growing resume
Robert Laberge/Zuffa LLC
By Damon Martin
Oct 26, 2015 at 6:31p ET

The lists of firsts for Ronda Rousey continues to grow, with the UFC bantamweight champion landing the cover of Ring Magazine's January 2016 issue.

Rousey becomes the first mixed martial artist to ever grace the cover of the boxing magazine that debuted in 1922, but she also becomes only the second woman to ever score the cover as well.

Cathy “Cat” Davis was the last woman to get featured on the cover of Ring Magazine back in 1978.

ringtv
2,024 likes 20h



SHE CONQUERED MMA. IS BOXING NEXT?: Check out the latest issue of The Ring featuring @rondarousey on the cover, along with our exclusive rankings— THE RING 100 WORLD’S BEST FIGHTERS. ON NEWSSTANDS NOVEMBER 15!! (Rousey 📷 by @ewillphoto) Also, see Ronda Rousey in the first episode of #InTheRing featured on the RINGTV/FACEBOOK page

Rousey has exploded onto the combat sports scene over the last few years and her crossover appeal with boxing fans is undeniable, especially considering her friendship with fighters like Manny Pacquiao.

While Rousey's own martial arts history started with judo when she was a kid, she's fallen in love with boxing over the years working with her coach Edmond Tarverdyan, who has worked with several notable boxers over the years, including Vic Darchinyan.

The cover states “she conquered MMA, is boxing next?” and while that scenario is highly unlikely to ever happen, the fact that Rousey landed the cover of the most prestigious magazine covering the sport says a lot.

When it came down to her own love of the sweet science, Rousey admitted that she's a huge fan of undefeated knockout artist Gennady Golovkin, who just recently scored his 20th consecutive finish when he put away David Lemieux on Oct. 17.

"Gennady Golovkin," Rousey answered when asked about her favorite boxer. "I can't believe I'm one of those people who are like 'before everybody knew I thought he was going to be cool' but I'm totally one of those guys. I'm like 'I knew Gennady was going to show everyone!' Just everything about who he is as a fighter and who he is as a person and it's hard to find somebody that impresses you in both areas."

Rousey's issue lands in stores on Nov. 15 -- the day after she defends her UFC bantamweight title against Holly Holm, who just happened to be a two-time Ring Magazine female fighter of the year winner.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Like a nice fitting thong, Rhonda is everywhere she needs to be

[GeneChing]

UFC Queen Ronda Rousey Reveals the Secret to Great Sex

Everybody's favorite MMA superstar explains why you should never use lube, the perfect morning-after meal and her biggest turn-off.
ENTERTAINMENT November 3, 2015 By Chris Wilson

Ronda Rousey is more than just the "world's most dominant athlete", a stone-cold babe, and a budding action star who will reprise Patrick Swayze's iconic role in the upcoming Road House remake. Rousey also kicks butt when it comes to dispensing advice.

The UFC goddess answered Maxim readers' questions about the perfect date, the secret to great sex, and the one thing you should never do in bed.

Dear Ronda: What's the best thing to wear on a first date?
- Bill, 31, Chicago

Well, I'll tell you what you shouldn't wear, and that's really tight, skinny jeans. Not a fan. If they’re so tight that you have to stand up to put something in your pocket? They're too skinny. If it seems like it would be really difficult to get in them, that's not good. If you're trying to take your pants off, and they turn inside out in the process? They’re too skinny. I just like when a guy dresses for comfort, to be honest. If he takes longer to get ready than I do, that's a deal breaker.

Dear Ronda: What is the sexiest date a guy can plan that's guaranteed to win her over? And while you're at it, what's the one present that no woman can resist?
- Vince, 26, Atlanta

Seriously, if a guy had a pick-up truck and took me out to the Malibu mountains out here in L.A., that's the perfect date for me. Even if we just had a cooler full of cider beer and an air mattress. I just want to tailgate, drink beer, and hang out in the middle of nowhere in a pick-up truck. That's my ideal date. As far as the best present, If a guy showed up at my door with some buffalo wings and cider beer, that’d be it for me. Because I have all the stuff that I want. Buffalo wings and cider is all I need.

Dear Ronda: What is the one essential meal every guy should know how to make?
- Adam, 33, Philadelphia

I love waking up to Sunday morning pancakes. The whole process of making them, just out in the kitchen together making pancakes on a Sunday morning, that’s an experience every girl should have.

Dear Ronda: What should a guy NEVER do in bed? What should a guy ALWAYS do in bed? (Asking for a friend.)
- Jack, 36, Los Angeles

For what you should never do: Don’t bite my teeth! If my teeth are repeatedly hitting your teeth, then there’s a problem with what you’re doing. That freaks me out. I don’t like it. It’s terrible. I have a thing about my teeth. Even though I do a sport where I get punched in the face for a living, if your teeth hit my teeth more than a few times, I’m over it already. What should a guy always do? Take his time. In general, a girl takes a minute. He needs to get her ready. You should never need lube in your life. If you need lube, than you’re being lazy...and you’re not taking your time.

Got a burning question for Ronda Rousey? Email HelpMeRonda@maxim.com, and stay tuned for future installments.

Oh crap. I'm wearing skinny jeans now. My wife gave them to me. I bet she did that just to mess up my chances with Ronda.

[cranefly]

Who the heck cares what Ronda Rousey likes to eat, or how she prefers men to dress, or what her sex advice is?

I've got better things to do, like eat dinner (pancakes), take out the garbage (lots of lube), put on some baggy clothes, and go to bed.

Hopefully to dream...

[GeneChing]

RONDA ROUSEY Back from Marine Corp Ball ... AND SHE'S BACK!
12/13/2015 6:38 AM PST BY TMZ STAFF
HE WAS A SWEETHEART TMZsports.com

Ronda Rousey was her old self Saturday at LAX, after her big date at the Marine Corp Ball.
The only hint she's still struggling with her loss to Holly Holm was an off-handed comment about smiling.
She kept her promise to escort Lance Corporal Jarrod Haschert to the big event in South Carolina.
We got Ronda before the Connor McGregor fight, so no word there. And she had few words about her boss, Dana White, endorsing Donald Trump for President.

Is it just me or does her face look...improved?

[GeneChing]

A fine piece of long form journalism from Ramona Shelburne.

EXCLUSIVE:
ROUSEY SAYS SHE’S DOWN BUT NOT OUT
12/08/15 • ESPN THE MAGAZINE

In the days after her stunning defeat, Ronda Rousey says that she's ready to fight again.
BY RAMONA SHELBURNE
PHOTOGRAPHED IN 2014 BY PARI DUKOVIC/TRUNK ARCHIVE
Editor's note: This story contains explicit language.

She isn't ready to talk yet. The stitches in her lip are still dissolving. The side of her face was kicked so hard, a few of her teeth still feel unstable. "It might be three to six months before I can eat an apple, let alone take an impact," she says.

But Ronda Rousey opens the red door of her smallish boho town house in Venice, California, on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving because one day she does want to be Ronda Rousey again.

"I'm just really ****ing sad."

Her voice is so soft you have to lean in to hear her. Sad is all she can feel since her knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 on Nov. 14. She speaks slowly, letting each word hurt. Like her hands in that ill-fated fight, her guard is down.

"I need to come back. I need to beat this chick. Who knows if I'm going to pop my teeth out or break my jaw or rip my lip open. I have to ****ing do it."

A FEW BLOCKS away on the Venice Beach boardwalk, a painter touches up the neon-green wall below a mural of Rousey, painted after her 34-second win over Bethe Correia in August. It was the third straight fight she'd won in less than a minute and the one that made UFC announcer Joe Rogan say, "Once in a lifetime doesn't apply to Ronda Rousey. It's once ever-in human history."

Brazilian street artists Bicicleta Sem Freio drew Rousey as a colorful superhero with a green-eyed, orange-tongued leopard growling at her side. Her hair is flowing wildly along her face. Her fists are up, ready to fight. Her eyes are fixed and fierce.

Rousey is not going to want to see that mural for a while. Aside from a little puffiness in her bottom lip, she still looks like Ronda Rousey. She just doesn't much feel like her.

"I've turned off my phone," she says. "I haven't looked at it. I've just been having long conversations with Mochi [her 7-year-old Argentinian Mastiff]."

She did shower today and eat a bit of onion bagel with cream cheese. She got dressed -- yes, sweats count -- and opened her door, first to her sister Maria Burns Ortiz, who brought her coffee, and then again for this interview.

"I was thinking, 'On the bright side, I'm more like crushed idealism and sardonic sense of humor now.'"

The loss to Holm is still too scary to fully feel or see. The retelling is told in fragments.

"I got hit in that first round. ... I cut my lip open and knocked a couple of my teeth loose. I was out on my feet from the very beginning."

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I had that huge cut in my mouth and I just spit [the blood] out at my feet. Then they brought the bucket over and I'm like, 'Why didn't I spit it in the bucket?' I never spit on the ground."

"It was like a dumbed-down dreamy version of yourself making decisions. ... I was just trying to shake myself out of it. I kept saying to myself, 'You're OK, keep fighting. You're OK, keep fighting.'"

"I just feel so embarrassed. How I fought after that is such an embarrassing representation of myself. I wasn't even ****ing there."

IT'S HARD TO square this shredded version of Rousey with the superhero a 10-minute walk away. Was she the one who put the cape on? Or did we just need her to fly?

It wasn't enough for her just to win fights; she had to win in 30 seconds with some completely implausible takedown. She did it enough times that some of the great male athletes of our age -- LeBron James, J.J. Watt, Kobe Bryant -- started bowing down and tweeting respect after her fights.

Then she started taking on opponents outside the ring-from convicted domestic abusers like Floyd Mayweather to the "do-nothing *****es" who just "try to be pretty and be taken care of by somebody else," as she put it. That's when some people started describing her as a new feminist icon. English writer John Berger once described the world as a place where "men look at women and women watch themselves being looked at." Rousey was like, What are you looking at? Beyonce gave her props. Ellen DeGeneres became her small-screen BFF. Movie studios began to find roles for her. Teenage girls and middle-aged lawyers bought $1 million worth of "Don't be a D.N.B" T-shirts and added "Rowdy" to their social media profiles.

She does not apologize for her ambitions: "Maybe I can't do it all before my prime, before my body is done. But **** it, maybe I can."

She does not soften herself to make anyone more comfortable: "Most people get scared away from having an opinion. It's not so much my opinions everybody relates to, it's that I don't care about being punished for it."

She says things women have wanted to say for years but have worried might be misconstrued: "It's not my responsibility to make everything I say idiot-proof. If a ******* can't understand it, then I'm not going to spend my time putting everything I think into layman's terms."


Maybe I can't do it all before my prime, before my body is done. But f--- it, maybe I can.”
- Ronda Rousey

She refused to be judged by any standard of beauty: "I think it's hilarious if people say that my body looks masculine," she said on an episode of UFC's "Embedded" that aired before the Correia fight. "I'm just like, 'Listen, just because my body was developed for a purpose other than ****ing millionaires doesn't mean it's masculine.' I think it's femininely badass as **** because there's not a single muscle on my body that isn't for a purpose. Because I'm not a do-nothing *****. It's not very eloquently said, but it's to the point. And maybe that's just what I am. I'm not that eloquent, but I'm to the point."

She was the perfect megaphone for the moment. This was the year the NFL recognized the domestic violence committed by its players; the year Mayweather's camp tried to pull the press credentials from two female journalists who'd criticized him and was skewered for it; the year the leading Democratic presidential candidate was a woman, as was a top-tier Republican contender; the year women wanted to gladiate like Olivia Pope and tear down walls like Becky Hammon.

"People can say I am a terrible role model because I swear all the time or that I fight people," Rousey told ESPN in 2013. "Look, I don't want little girls to have the same ambitions as me. I want them to know that it is OK to be ambitious. ... I want them to know that it is OK to say whatever it is that is on their mind."

The more invincible she seemed, the louder she was cheered and from more corners. She was becoming everyone's avatar. That's a lot to put on someone who makes a living fighting in a cage-it's a lot to put on anyone, probably too much. But she kept living up to it until Holm's thunderous kick to the side of her head sent her crashing down to earth.

Seven years ago, Rousey was such a compelling personality and fighter that UFC president Dana White, who'd previously said "Never" when asked if women would ever fight for him, happily ate his words and created the women's division. Now she makes well north of seven figures per fight, plus another $3 million to $5 million in endorsements annually. Then there are the movies (Furious 7 and Entourage this year, a reboot of Roadhouse next year), the autobiography (My Fight/Your Fight, published in May) and countless media appearances.

Now we're left wondering what really ended that night in Australia. The Rousey Myth of Invincibility? The idea that one woman could fly in on a cape and take down male hegemony with an armbar? The UFC's marketing strategy of Ronda as Amazon? Or just a winning streak?

Rousey sinks into her couch to ponder the question. "I feel like I'm grieving the death of the person who could've done that," she says.

Mochi leans her head against a blanket on the floor and whimpers. The big, beautiful dog has been crying a lot lately. They've been together since Rousey's last lowest moment, when she won bronze, not gold, in judo at the Beijing Olympics, and when Rousey cries, so does Mochi.

"I always say you have to be willing to get your heart broken. That's just what ****ing happens when you try."

Continued next post

[GeneChing]

"I just feel so embarrassed. How I fought after that is such an embarrassing representation of myself. I wasn't even ****ing there," Rousey says about Holm's kick to the side of her head. Nick Laham

SHE SLEPT THE entire 15-hour flight home from the fight in Australia, numbed by the painkillers she's always hated taking. TMZ caught her leaving the airport when she landed, a pillow in front of her face to protect her from the world's sight.

The next day she got into a truck with her boyfriend, Travis Browne, and drove 15 hours to a remote ranch in Texas. It was supposed to be a celebratory trip, a long rest after a long year. Three fights in nine months, two movies, white-hot fame and a series of simmering controversies during training camp-12 months way up close to the sun. The plan had been to beat Holm, celebrate with a gigantic batch of chicken wings and a lot of cider beer at a restaurant in Melbourne, fly home and drive off with Travis to hunt wild turkey for Thanksgiving at her sister Jennifer's house.

They took off after her last fight in August, and it was one of the best weeks of her life. No phones. No obligations. Just the two of them sleeping on a mattress in the back of his truck each night, making up silly names and voices for the animals on the ranch and enjoying the honeymoon stage of a new relationship. She says she loved the way he made her feel taken care of and safe. How he'd wake up at 5:45 a.m. to make her coffee and fix her breakfast so she could sleep an extra 30 minutes before training. How he hunted with a bow and arrow instead of a gun. He reminded her of her father.

Rousey's father committed suicide when she was 8 years old. Browne was 10 when his father drank himself to death. When they first started seeing each other in early summer, they bonded quickly and deeply, two fighters with holes in their hearts.

That was before Browne's ex-wife, Jenna Renee Webb, accused him of domestic violence in a series of tweets and a graphic Instagram post in July. Browne categorically denied it.

The UFC suspended him from competition while Campbell & Williams, a law firm they hired, investigated the accusations. "We retained an incredibly well-respected investigator who spent 25 years ... with the FBI and interviewed all relevant parties, including both Browne and the alleged victim," says managing partner Hunter Campbell. "Ultimately, the investigator comfortably determined there was inconclusive evidence to support claims of alleged domestic violence."

Over the summer, Webb called out Rousey on social media. "I expected more from her. She should be ashamed of herself. ... It's only a matter of time that she sees his true colors."

"The investigation wasn't about clearing me," Browne said. "It was about finding the truth if I did something. ... I knew there was nothing because I did nothing. If anything, yeah, we yelled at each other. Would I say nasty things to her? ****in' A. But I wasn't the only one saying them."

Browne called Rousey and her mother the first day his ex-wife made allegations on social media. He swore to them he hadn't done anything violent but that he'd understand if she wanted to end the relationship. Rousey believed him and decided to stand by him. "Why can't [people] have some confidence or trust in me that I would make a good decision and be with a good man regardless of how it looks?" she said during training camp. She refused to answer questions about their relationship before the fight.


Rousey and boyfriend Travis Browne, before UFC 193, at their hotel suite in Melbourne. Nick Laham

She said she didn't want to shame the accuser, because that's so often what happens in domestic violence cases. She hung up on reporters who pressed the issue, thinking it was too complicated to explain in conference calls, where her quotes could be chopped up into tweets and contextualized by people she had never met. She had to focus on beating Holm first.

"It's hard, it's really hard. I'm very anti-domestic violence," she said one day after training at her gym in LA, tears streaming down her cheeks. "But I know that he didn't do anything. Now I'm put in this situation where I'm finally happy with somebody that respects me and cares about me, and I'm like, 'What do I do?'"

The issue quickly got conflated with a controversy over her autobiography, in which she writes of fighting her way out of a confrontation with an ex-boyfriend she had caught taking nude pictures of her. According to her account, she punched him when he blocked her from leaving their apartment, and when he got into her car and grabbed the steering wheel, she yanked him by his hoodie and dragged him out of the car. Rousey says it was self-defense. Others wondered whether it was domestic violence.

After the Holm fight, she'd explain it all, she said. She'd ask people to trust her after hearing her conflicted feelings on the issue. And if they still couldn't understand, she would live with that.

"At the end of the day, I can't curl up with people's opinions," she said. "Even when everyone thinks the world of me, I still go to bed anxious and freaking out because I'm afraid of everything. The only time I've gotten a reprieve from that [feeling] in my life is since I've been with him."

Then she lost to Holm and there was no plan. They just got into the truck and drove. Texas was freezing. The wind howled every night. She watched Browne hunt once. He didn't get anything. Another group of hunters gave them a deer they'd killed.

It was miserable.

"I kind of just slept a lot and ate fast food," she says, sitting up a bit on the couch to see what Mochi is doing. "First I was so sick I couldn't eat anything. Then I just slept and pooped in the woods. I used a whole roll of toilet paper in one day.

"Physically, my body was refusing its own failures. It was, like, sick of itself. Expelling itself. Like all the skin came off my face. My whole body flushed it out."

She left her phone at home. Travis answered texts from her family, trainer and agent. She shut out the outside world. She's been selling the fight game for so long, she knew what was being said about her.

"That I'm a ****ing failure and I deserve everything that I got," she says sharply.

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