"Through my journey to become the greatest fighter in the cage, I learned the concepts to conquer every battle outside of it." This quote, said by Ronda Rousey, the greatest women’s MMA fighter, shows us that Ronda did not always have it easy. Many people will look at her today and say that she has everything, but they do not realize what it took for her to get to where she is today. She experienced challenges in her life that many people are fortunate enough not to experience in their lifetime such as death and addiction. The events Ronda Rousey has faced throughout her life led her to be the great, fearless fighter she is today.
Right away from the day she was born, Ronda had a tough childhood. With her umbilical cord wrapped around her…show more content… One day she happened to find an old scrapbook. Inside were pictures of her mother and as she was looking through the pictures she quickly came to the realization that her mother was a judo champion. Ronda was surprised when she learned this about her mother: “It was an unbelievable discovery as a kid,” Rousey says. “All this time, I’d been looking at my dad as big, strong, invincible, and my mom as the nurturer. I had no idea that my mom could kick my dad’s butt.” Her mother was a sixth degree black belt, and in 1984, became the first American to win the world judo championships (Callahan). Ronda became inspired and immediately started training hard. Her mother became her coach and taught her the fundamentals as well as discipline. Ronda’s mother taught her to fight through pain. If her toe was broken, Ronda told herself she could run on it anyways. When Ronda had a torn knee meniscus, she went on to fight despite the factor. She learned to push through pain and give it her all even when it hurts. After strenuous, militaristic training Ronda worked her way up to the big leagues; she was fierce and ready to fight. Ronda continued to excel and at age 16 she dropped out of high school to move to Boston, where she trained for the 2004 Olympics. She did not medal in the Olympics, however, Ronda took the gold at the year’s World Junior and Pan American Judo championships. Judo became her life (Ronda Rousey…show more content… She was thriving and unraveling all at once. She was getting better at fighting, but she began to develop eating disorders due to judo. Ronda would eat way too much food at once, and then purge to make weight. She knew she would not be allowed to fight if she did not make weight, so she did whatever it took to fight. She did not even allow herself so much as a drink of water the evening before a fight. Ronda admits, “I used to associate feeling full with guilt. There was no advice or help if you didn’t make weight. They just yelled at you.” Even though she had eating disorders, Ronda went on to win the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. At the age of 21 she retired from judo. Once she retired, it did not take her long to spend all of her winnings. She became poor and lived in her car while working as a bartender in Los Angeles. For a short time she lived with an unfaithful, verbally abusive boyfriend, who ended up stealing from her. While attempting to deal with her emotions, Ronda became addicted to alcohol, marijuana, and Vicodin. She had no motivation to end her bad habits until she started to train for MMA. “It gave her a sense of power and freedom that she was never able to achieve through the use of alcohol and Vicodin” (Ronda Rousey and her Story of Hope). After Ronda going through success, eating disorders, and addiction, her inner struggles all ended with the start of her MMA