In this Dec. 28, 2013, file photo, Ronda Rousey, left, of Venice, Calif., punches Miesha Tate of Yakima, Wash., during a UFC 168 mixed martial arts women's bantamweight title fight. Photo / AP.
In this Dec. 28, 2013, file photo, Ronda Rousey, left, of Venice, Calif., punches Miesha Tate of Yakima, Wash., during a UFC 168 mixed martial arts women's bantamweight title fight. Photo / AP.
UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is one of the most dominant titleholders in MMA. Rousey (10-0) will defend her crown against Cat Zingano (9-0) in the main event of UFC 184 in Los Angeles tomorrow. Rousey, an Olympic bronze medallist in judo in 2008 and cast member of 'TheExpendables 3', sparred three verbal rounds with Daniel Richardson.
DR: Can you tell us about what some of the biggest misconceptions are around women's MMA?
RR: That the kind of woman that's a fighter is a specific kind of woman. I think every girl in the UFC or MMA comes from a completely different place and fights for a completely different reason and is a completely different person. There is no stereotype of the girl fighter. There's every single type of woman fighter and I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions, that they're all these grizzled and gruff chicks. But some of them are mums, some of them are nurses and some of them are grizzled and gruff chicks. Every single type of girl fights for their own reasons.
DR: You're friendly and chatty [speaking to the media] but when you walk out to the cage you've got one of the most stern looks in the UFC, what do you do to flick that switch?
RR: It started when I was a kid, with my mum, when I was at a judo tournament. Instead of letting me play around with all the other kids -- a lot of the kids I would be fighting would sit under the table playing little hand games and stuff like that -- my mum would be grabbing me and pulling me away from the kids to sit me down in the corner and be like: 'Sit there and think about winning'. It was either that or sleep. She would make me sleep in between fights. I would not be able to joke around. I would have to focus and I just got taught when it's time to focus, it's time to focus.
Then when I got to be at the higher level of competition, when I got older, I was the bad guy everywhere. Post 9/11 nobody liked [Americans] at all. So every single time that I came out and walked in to an arena I was getting booed by everybody. So I had to just tune everyone out and walk out there and be like: 'I'm going to shut everyone in here up'. I never worked for applause, I worked for silence and I worked for spite. I would come out there and I was like: 'I'm going to show all you guys. I'm going to stop you guys from booing and you're not going to be able to boo me after this'. So I always felt like it was me against the world every time I fought. So I just kind of walked out like that. I didn't walk out to smile and wave to people because they wouldn't wave back to me; they'd probably throw something in my face and being a 16-year-old little girl in Korea, it hardens you pretty quickly.
DR: When you went on 'The Expendables 3' film set, how were you received by the other people on set because people see you on TV and they may have a perception of you; were people intimidated to talk to you?
RR: No, I thought I was going to be like the dorky kid at the cafeteria that has nowhere to sit. I thought they would be like: 'She's not an actress'. I was worried that I would be kind of outcasted and it was entirely the opposite. Everyone was so respectful and so curious and really welcoming and I've been treated extremely well. I was very, very pleasantly surprised in both the fighting and Hollywood industry. I expected a whole lot more resistance than I've gotten and I think because of how poorly I was treated as a judoka I've had this skewed idea in my mind of how people are going to treat me. I've been nothing but pleasantly surprised ever since I left judo.
