It Was Just T***ies and Passports Everywhere”: Years Ago, Ronda Rousey Described the “Chaos” During Weigh-Ins at European Circuit Tournaments

Published 03/14/2023, 4:15 PM EDT

Combat athletes often come out to fans as dangerous and ruthless. Their performances in the ring or the cage is what fans see. What still remains hidden is the number of sacrifices these athletes make to maintain their bodies according to weight regulations. In her memoir, My Fight/ Your Fight, former UFC star, and current WWE star Ronda Rousey has remembered some instances where she talks about the rigors of weighing in before a tournament and how it sometimes became a not-so-decent event. Throughout her initial career as a Judoka, traveled to different places for her tournaments. She wrote in her book instances from the British open where weigh-in became a struggle for her.

Ronda Rousey‘s struggles were all worth it as she got the honor of being the first athlete to win an Olympic medal in judo for the United States. She, however, had to fight her coaches and US Judo authorities, and even her own mother, to get what she did. In her memoir, she mentioned some difficult moments from her career that show the truth about the ready-to-fight bodies we see in combat sports.

Ronda Rousey’s British Open experience

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Ronda Rousey recalled the time she went to tournaments in Europe. She mentioned the British open, where unlike the Olympics or other games, specific weight divisions were not scheduled to have their weigh-ins on specific days. She remembered the chaos. ‘Rowdy’ mentioned how hungry and dehydrated athletes went for their weigh-ins. She wrote, “The first tournament was the British Open. Weigh-ins at the European circuits were chaos, unlike at the Olympics or the world championship, where only one or two divisions fight a day, at other elite tournaments, everyone in every division fights on the same day.”

Since the games were not as well organized as the Olympics, weigh-ins were a difficult thing to get done with. Rousey added, “That means dozens of hungry girls from every division, wanting to weigh in at once. And there is no decorum. I was standing in an open room, filled with girls covering themselves with nothing but their passports. The athletes were waiting around, some preparing their post-weigh-in drinks and food, everyone just waiting for the weigh-in to officially start.”

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Remembering the chaos in the hall, she further added, “The female official in charge announced them open. Every naked chick in the room ran toward the scale. It was just t****es and passports everywhere. The officials started grabbing passports out of the sea of athletes who were waving them in the air and began calling the names of their owners. Girls were pushing up against each other. Caught in the fray, I eventually pushed myself to the front.”

It was experiences like these that made Ronda Rousey the winner she later became. The learnings and experiences made her the killing machine that ruled UFC and the WWE arenas. In more than one way, Ronda Rousey broke the glass ceiling and women came to combat sports. It was Ronda Rousey who opened the doors of the UFC for women. Are you a Ronda Rousey fan? Do you think Ronda Rousey should have stayed with the UFC longer? Let us know.

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Watch This Story: USA Judo ran out of money as Ronda Rousey unexpectedly broke their corrupt system during her rookie days

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Written by:

Akshay Pallav is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Having completed his undergraduation from National Institute of Fashion Technology in Apparel Production, he has been a sports enthusiast all his life and has several medals at the University level across multiple sports including basketball, badminton, track and field. He aspires to interview Conor McGregor and Cristiano Ronaldo someday.

Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana

It Was Just T***ies and Passports Everywhere”: Years Ago, Ronda Rousey Described the “Chaos” During Weigh-Ins at European Circuit Tournaments

Ronda Rousey’s British Open experience

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