Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey revealed recently on The Ellen Degeneres Show that after her UFC 193 KO loss to Holly Holm she briefly had suicidal thoughts.
After Rousey made the statement, many members of the combat sports community poured out their support for Rousey, revealing they know the devastation after a loss.
During a recent interview with TMZ, Rousey spoke about the history of mental illness in her family, as well as why she feels suicidal thoughts aren’t a weakness we should condemn.
“There’s a history of suicide in my family. My father and his dad both took their lives and I think suicide is the No. 1 killer of young teens as well. I do a lot of work with Didi Hirsch, which is a free mental health clinic here in LA and the last event I went to here with them was erasing the stigma, taking the stigma away from suicide and everything and making it actually acceptable for people to talk about it — and look for help and not feel ashamed of themselves for it and should be encouraged.”
advertisement – continue reading below“It’s not about damning people and I feel like there’s been an overly negative light on that. It’s something that people are going through, not something like a weakness that we should condemn.”