With one kick to the neck, Ronda Rousey’s career shattered into thousands of pieces.
Well that’s at least what it seems like to the desolate former UFC champion, who has given an incredible interview to EPSN this month.
Holly Holm’s win over ‘Rowdy’ was the shock of the year inside the Octagon, and while the new champion receives adoration in her hometown, the defeated, broken shell of the former Olympic medalist is slumped on her couch in California.
We reported last night how the devastating neck-kick injured Rousey’s jaw so much that she can barely eat an apple and the once golden girl of MMA is a pale shadow of who she once was.
Here are some of the best quotes on her condition and how she plans to return to the top of her sport.
Her current physical and mental state:
“It might be three to six months before I can eat an apple, let alone take an impact.
“I’m just really f**king sad.”
The loss to Holm:
“It was like a dumbed-down dreamy version of yourself making decisions. I was just trying to shake myself out of it. I kept saying to myself, ‘You’re OK, keep fighting. You’re OK, keep fighting.’
“I just feel so embarrassed. How I fought after that is such an embarrassing representation of myself. I wasn’t even f**king there.”
Why she didn’t touch gloves:
“It was just like a reaction. I was like, ‘The last time I saw you [at the weigh-in], you were putting your fist on my chin and trying to get a cheap hit on me, then you turn around and you want to touch gloves? You have to be one way or the other. So if you want to be that way with me, that’s the way it is.'”
A rematch with Holm:
“I need to come back. I need to beat this chick. Who knows if I’m going to pop my teeth out or break my jaw or rip my lip open. I have to f**king do it.”
Love for Serena Williams:
“I f**king love her. Everybody else is like, ‘Oh, I’m small and proper and tennis-y’ and she’s just like, f**kin’ muscles, curvaceousness, awesomeness. She doesn’t back down from anyone.”
What her legacy will be:
“I guess it’s all going to be determined by what happens in the rematch.Everything is going to be determined by that. Either I’ll win and keep going or I won’t and I’ll be done with everything.”
Why she will fight again:
“What else am I going to f**king do?
“I always think I can lose all of them. “I’m the only one that’s scared when I walk in there. I’m always f**king scared.”