The Sportsnista

Anybody who watched Ronda Rousey’s disastrous return to the ring in UFC 207 can’t help but to ask why? Why come back after being battered first by Holly Holm and now Amanda Nunes? Why isn’t there any fight in this fighter? Why the media blackout before and after the fight? Why? Why? Why?

Leading up to the title contest with Nunes, Ronda ran from every camera and question along the way. Actually, looking back at her history in the UFC, she was always running. Figuratively and literally. Watch the clip of her ring walk.

An article published by a team of researchers revealed crickets migrate in mass partially due to fear of cannibalism. I know the introduction of cannibalism into the conversation is a sharp turn. Stay with me, I’m going somewhere.

It’s documented that seasonally, droves of Mormon Crickets destroy farmland and disrupt the roadways as they push forward and cover about a mile a day. A mile for a cricket is like a human being walking 100 miles. Fear is that strong. Fear demands rapid forward motion of all beings and often destroys whatever is in its way. See aren’t you glad that you stuck with me through the crickets?

The thing about the Octagon is there’s no place to hide. Similarly, the Octagon of life will eventually suss out fear and expose it. Like those crickets, either you sit with it and let the feeling cannibalize and tear you apart, or you break the hell out and find a way to secure a victory for yourself.

Ronda Rousey isn’t unlike many others who have defined themselves by a flawed relationship with success. UFC titles, Olympic medals and bank accounts are in no way qualified to symbolize worth. Wealth maybe, but definitely not worth.

I get it. It’s hard, if not impossible for individuals who have performed at an extremely high level to see the forest for the trees. Success for some amounts to an accumulation of things and accolades. The trouble with that approach is once the shiny bits fade, as all “things” do, the core of the individual has to withstand that loss.

Some folks just can’t do that. They start moving the goal post and find a new way to be affirmed. That’s just not a sustainable way to live. We, meaning human beings, have to find success in the journey over the destination. Where, or whatever that may be.

I’m not asserting that I know what Ronda Rousey is afraid of. It’s clear that she was given permission to hide out in the fear though. Coaches, Dana White and the entire UFC Marketing and PR effort allowed her to be wholly unprofessional and ignore any media obligations.  And no matter what direction she plans to head in, the reason for all of that destruction needs to be dealt with before she can move on. Most definitely, before she can achieve true success.