Ronda Rousey spoke in rare detail about her father’s death and showed raw emotion during a moving interview released this week.
Rousey is two weeks away from her first career fight in the UFC. She will be taking on Liz Carmouche Feb. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The UFC has begun increasing promotion for the fight, and they released the first episode of “UFC Primetime: Rousey vs. Carmouche” this week to help build interest in the match.
The show is structured very similarly to HBO’s fantastic “24/7” series that revolutionized the fight promotion industry. The episode takes viewers into the personal lives of both fighters. We learn about their histories, their daily routines, and how hard each of them have worked to get where they are.
Rousey’s life as a struggling waitress following her time as a judo fighter at the Olympics is discussed; Carmouche’s struggle with her sexuality is broached. But the episode really begins to touch viewers when Rousey talks about her father.
Rousey has talked in the past about her father dying and how it has inspired her toward greatness. Normally considered a tough girl who talks trash, is free sexually, and isn’t afraid to go after anyone, Rousey was in tears when she talked about her dad, who died when she was eight.
Give yourself about five minutes to watch this video and you will see a side of Rousey that she doesn’t often show:
One of the quotes from Rousey that stood out to me was when she explained why she doesn’t talk about her father’s death very often.
“People love to ask me about it all the time because ‘doesn’t it make a great story.’ I feel terrible talking about it. I feel like I’m prostituting his memory for my own career gain and it makes me look like a f—ing a—hole.”
I certainly understand and respect her decision to keep the story and memory of her father personal. For that reason, fans can appreciate Rousey opening up about her father on the show. We got to understand some of what she has gone through and some of what inspires her. And in a rare instance, perhaps the toughest woman on the planet was transformed into an empathetic figure.
