If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media then you’ve probably heard the name “Ronda Rousey,” “Bethe Correia,” and the number “34” emerge a number of times in various news media. This is because the past Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Ronda Rousey defended her title against Bethe Correia as the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion beating her in a mere 34 seconds. This makes Ronda Rousey the undefeated reigning champion.
But more than just a milestone in UFC or MMA history, Rousey’s victory in the Championship match, as well as in the sporting world, is a lesson that all women can take away.
A lesson about being confident, strong and sexy in your own way, and that being any of those things does not make you self,centered, full of yourself, bossy, or a “bitch.” It makes you a confident, powerful, ambitious woman, and it’s not a bad thing.
Before Rousey’s match against Correia, there was a great deal of trash talk going on both ways. During a pre-match interview with Bethe Correia for Combate in May, the topic of Rousey and the recent release of her autobiography “My Fight / Your Fight” came up. A mistake on her part, Correia makes numerous remarks about Rousey’s mental stability and substance abuse as a result of her father’s suicide, and even went as far as to allude to her own potential suicide when she lost.
“She is not mentally healthy, she needs to take care of herself," Correia said. "She is winning, so everybody is around her cheering her up, but when she realizes she is not everything that she believes she is, I don't know what might happen. I hope she does not kill herself later on."
Although she has apologized for the over-the-line remark, claiming that she was not aware of the circumstances of Rousey’s father’s death, neither Rousey or OFC President Dana White believe her.
According to the UFC President, "She absolutely did, she's been playing that game. There's people that are really good at playing the head games. Conor McGregor is one of the best I've ever seen. And Bethe has been doing that for sure. But Ronda is a tough one to do it with. Ronda is one of the most mentally strong human beings I've ever met in my life."
Rousey herself fired back against the insults on Twitter, and subsequently had been brutal about her intentions (to teach Correia a lesson) during interviews. “She’s already got the fight,” she said during a media day at her Glendale Fighting Club gym. “There was already enough heat behind the fight. It was entirely unnecessary. To bring my family into it, they don't deserve that and they didn't ask for that. I need to make sure nobody else tries that ever again."
In retrospect, though the entire debacle seems rude and unnecessary, Rousey did not respond with unnecessary aggression, rather controlled confidence. She finished the match ensuring that no one would ever question her mental stability or her family’s honor again. She did the same thing any other man or woman who protects their family would do.
All things considered, Rousey displayed her opinion with confidence, strength, and perfect control. This isn’t the first instance of female empowerment that Rousey has displayed in recent media.
Throughout her MMA career, there has been many a person who has labeled her body as “huge” or “masculine.” As expected, Rousey shot down the accusations with the most perfect response. Her body isn’t designed to please men. It’s designed to take care of herself.
“I have this one term for the kind of woman my mother raised me to not be, and I call it a do nothing b—. A DNB. The kind of chick that just tries to be pretty and be taken care of by someone else. That’s why I think it’s hilarious if my body looks masculine or something like that. Listen, just because my body was developed for a purpose other than f—ing millionaires doesn’t mean it’s masculine. I think it’s femininely badass as f— because there’s not a single muscle on my body that isn’t for a purpose because I’m not a do nothing b—. 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.”
A little crass? Probably. True? Absolutely.
Time and time again, Ronda Rousey has proved to be a woman who takes care of herself. She is ambitious and works with an unparalleled determination to succeed. She is strong, both physically and mentally, and she fights to win. I think women all over the world could take a little away from her.
