Ronda Rousey’s UFC 193 KO loss` to Holly Holm was arguably the biggest fall from grace for a champion in the history of MMA.
Rousey’s dominance over the UFC women’s bantamweight division made ‘Rowdy’ appear invincible for several fights until she stepped into the Octagon with Holly Holm.
Last week, nearly 4 months after the loss, Rousey revealed on The Ellen Degeneres Show that she had suicidal thoughts immediately after the loss.
Top ranked UFC welterweight Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown sees a major hole in Rousey’s mental game. He spoke on his podcast, The Great MMA Debate:
“She’s just one of a million to feel that way. Every athlete that loses feels that exact same thing. She’s not special in that regard,”
“A day or two later, I can see her saying I felt suicidal or whatever. That’s not an uncommon feeling. I’ve felt that same way before. I lost three in a row and had newborn babies and didn’t know when I was going to get another paycheck, thought I was going to be cut from the UFC. I felt the exact same feelings before.”
“It’s a fundamental flaw in her psychology,” Brown explained. “It’s Day One s–t. I don’t claim to be the best fighter, but I guarantee I have put in as much time if not the most time of any fighter you’ve ever met, I guarantee I put in as much if not more time on the mental side of this game, the psychology, the mental training. I’m constantly reading about it. I’ve probably talked to 20 different sports psychologists in my life.
“You had four months to deal with this. By now the lesson should be learned and you should be moving forward and I didn’t hear that.”