FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Sports

Ronda Rousey Wants To "Disappear" After This Weekend's Fight

Is she dodging Cyborg or does Ronda just want an escape from being “Rowdy”.
Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC

What a day for mixed martial arts and what a day for its biggest star, Ronda Rousey, who, in addition to showing up in god knows how many other publications this morning, two days before her big fight with Holly Holm in Melbourne, Australia, was the feature subject in stories published by The USA Today, The Washington Post, and Rolling Stone. What a shift in perception the sport has gone though in just the last few years, a shift created entirely by Rousey's arrival in the UFC in 2013. It wasn't that long ago that the thought of any of those publications, much less all of them at the same time, running a story about MMA that wasn't a hit piece or a mournful editorial about the collapse of civilization would have been considered laughable. Add in a friendly profile in Reader's Digest and some photos of Rousey at the beach in US Weekly andmixed martial arts will have officially crept its way into every living room and waiting room in America. At long last.

Advertisement

But it's not just the type of publication that's remarkable, or even the abundance of them; it's the subject matter. A few days ago Maxim magazine was talking about who Rousey was throwing her support behind in the presidential election (Bernie Sanders), and today the bantamweight champion—a woman whose political views meant precisely nothing to anyone three years ago—was featured in stories about female-to-male domestic abuse (i.e., Did Rousey commit it when she beat up a former boyfriend, as she brags about in her recent bestselling book?—Washington Post), child safety (i.e., Does mixed martial arts imperil it, as Australian children's health advocates protesting this weekend's events claim it does and which Rousey rather clumsily claimed it doesn't in response?—USA Today), and the all-consuming demands of American fame and the dangers of overexposure in late capitalism (i.e., What is Rousey going to do about it? – Rolling Stone). Rousey has achieved a position far beyond the reach of simple sports journalism. She (like all true celebrities) now belongs to everyone and anyone—paparazzi, gossips, Internet trolls, fight fans, movie fans, Monday morning quarterbacks, casting directors, marketing directors, adoring children, morning talk show hosts, late-night TV talk show hosts, perverts, social theorists, ad agencies, journalists, "journalists," and government representatives both foreign and domestic.

Advertisement

So what's a judoka-turned-MMA-star-turned-glass-ceiling-shatterer-turned-marketing-wizard-turned-movie-star-turned-overexposed-celebrity do when put under that kind of all-seeing microscope? According to Rousey the answer might be, and wisely, to simply vanish.

"I'm selling a product and I have to be out there; I don't have the option not to be," Rousey told Rolling Stone. "But after this fight, I'm definitely going to let some people miss me, for sure. Believe me, there's nothing I would like to do more than disappear for a while."

Rousey detailed her plans, saying that her hope after this weekend is to not fight again until UFC 200, in July 2016. It's a span of time during which Rousey has to this point managed to fit in three title defenses. But seeing as her fights tend to last no more than two minutes, it can't be the fighting that's inspiring the voices in her head to call for a disappearance. It's the media, it's the exposure, it's being the vehicle by which an entire long-loathed sport finally fought its way into the mainstream. It's the burden of historical significance, societal expectation, and American fame.

Then again, there is the belief out there, put forward by some, that disappearing until July is just another way for Rousey to dodge the only woman in the world who has a chance against her in a fight: Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino. Those not quite as enamored of Rousey, or at least less convinced of her indestructibility, have been pointing out for years her ability to always avoid a fight with Cyborg. First she moved down from featherweight (where Cyborg reigned) to bantamweight, then she demanded Cyborg do the same if she wanted a title fight, then there were all the calls for more drug testing after Cyborg was popped for steroids in 2012.

Who knows if this is true? Who knows if Rousey has found yet another way to slip out of a fight with Cyborg or if she's just tired and bored with herself and the burdens of fame. But even Rousey would have to admit, deep down and in some quiet moment, that the thought of fighting Justino is a terrifying one, not just in terms of potential physical consequences but also because a loss could signal the end of all that burdensome fame and all those lucrative demands and all those exhausting expectations, all that draining love. Maybe Rousey has a sense that she will miss all the madness if it goes away, that disappearing beats having the rug pulled out from under you any day.