Rousey “contemplated suicide” after defeat
It was supposed to be buffalo wings and cider, but instead former UFC champ Ronda Rousey found herself contemplating suicide after being knocked out cold by Holly Holm at UFC 193 in Melbourne.
Ronda Rousey leaves the octagon after her defeat against Holly Holm. Photo: Joe Castro, AAP.
The 29-year-old revealed the November loss she suffered via a head kick led to dark thoughts in the immediate aftermath.
“I was literally sitting there and thinking about killing myself,” a candid Rousey told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on her program.
“That exact second I’m like: ‘I’m nothing, what do I do anymore, and no one gives a s**t about me anymore without this’.
“To be honest I looked up and I saw my man Travis [Browne] was standing up there and I looked up at him and I was like, ‘I need to have his babies. I need to stay alive’.”
Rousey also blamed a cluttered schedule, which included three title fights in nine months, for her first ferocious defeat.
“I don’t think anyone has ever attempted that before,” she said.
“In that first [exchange] I cut open my whole mouth and I knocked my teeth loose.
“I knew she was out there, but like I really don’t remember most of it. So I was trying my best to kinda hide the fact that I wasn’t even there anymore.”
Rousey, who received a six-month medical ban after the fight, is unlikely to fight regularly in 2016 as she takes time off from the Octagon to focus on filming movies, including the Road House remake.
A match with the winner of the fight between Holm and long-time Rousey rival Miesha Tate, potentially at July’s UFC 200, has been mooted as the next time Rousey steps in the Octagon.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
-AAP
