“You Might Feel Like This Is a Terrible Thing”: Ronda Rousey’s Mother’s Huge Decision Put Her Out of Misery Despite Young “Rowdy” Second-Guessing Herself

Ronda Rousey never had it easy on her journey to the United States’ first Olympic Judo medal. She had to go around the world playing tournaments with her own funds. While sometimes the US Judo reimbursed the expenses; sometimes they failed. The coaching was not inspiring either. Rousey expressed all these problems in her memoir, ‘My fight / Your Fight’. She also went on to talk about the troubles athletes face when going in for a weigh-in while cutting weight.

When she found it impossible to starve herself further, she called her mother, who suggested she could move up a weight class; surprisingly it worked wonders for ‘Rowdy’.

Ronda Rousey‘s mother Ann Maria de Mars was an influential figure in her life. Being a Judoka herself, she became the guiding light for her daughter after Rousey lost her father at an early age. ‘Rowdy’ remembered how the stress of cutting weight was weighing heavily on her and how going up a weight class made things easy for her.

Ronda Rousey wins in a new division after not making weight

There was a time Ronda Rousey was struggling with her weight. She tried desperately, but it affected her game as she was starved and not really fit and ready for her fights. It was her sheer dedication that won her the British Open despite puking during a fight because of her weight-cut routine. ‘The Arm Collector’ once landed in a situation when she was in Linz, Austria, for a tournament that was supposed to be held in Vienna.

To top up her problems, ‘Rowdy’ realized she had only twenty- four hours to cut down ten pounds. A broken Rousey called her mother bawling like a child. Her mother suggested her a way out that made her win the tournament. The 36-year-old recounted in her memoir her conversation with her mom. She wrote, “You are going to tell Valerie to go to the coach’s meeting tonight and move you up to seventy kilos. Linz is not that far from Vienna. You are going to go to the airport in the morning and get a ticket. You will go to the tournament, and everything will be fine.”

Replying to which, the MMA fighter turned actress said, “But they’ll all be bigger than me,” I said, still crying.”

Her mother calmly replied, ” “Well, no, apparently, they’ll all be seventy kilos, which is what you are now,” my mom said.”

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

She further added, “I didn’t know what to say. “You might feel like this is a terrible thing, but this isn’t the worst thing that could happen,” my mom continued. “You’ve been in the top ten at sixty-three kilos for years, so all these girls are training for you. Nobody at seventy kilos is expecting you. Just go out and fight. There are no expectations.”

Rousey wins the tournament in a new weight class

Once the ghosts of making weight vanished, Rousey was unstoppable. Right after the call with her mom, ‘Rowdy’ raided her mini-bar. She flew to the venue the next day and fought in the new weight class.

She eventually won. The story tells fans a lot about the mental and physical struggles combat athletes go through.

Rousey is considered a woman who smashed the glass ceiling for women fighters and became the first fighter to have PPV events in both UFC and the WWE.

Are you a Ronda Rousey fan? Let us know.

Watch This Story: USA Judo Ran Out of Money as Ronda Rousey unexpectedly broke their corrupt system during her Rookie days.