One of the most lethal female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in the history of the sport and also currently a UFC veteran, Ronda Rousey has revealed that her aim in life is to share the glory like that of boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
The 28-year-old UFC women's batamweight champion has remained undefeated in the UFC ever since she stepped foot in the MMA promotion. She has been undefeated in the octagon so far, and it's with every passing fight that she is etching her name in the record books.
Rousey takes on Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 193 on 15 November at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, and this will be her sixth fight as the UFC women's champion. She has had five title defences in the octagon so far.
The term 'woman' beside champion is not something that Rousey is very keen on having, as she mentions that she wants to be mentioned along with the likes of Tyson and Ali.
"I want my name to be mentioned along with Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali," the fighter-actor said in an exclusive interview to Self magazine. "I don't want the word woman to be in front of champion," she added.
Her journey so far as an MMA fighter has been the stuff of dreams, and Rousey said that what she has achieved so far has only come as immense motivation to her, and she is also not willing to stop.
"It's motivating, because it's something I have to keep earning [the title to be the best]. When I was a kid, all I did was train. I never went to a dance, I never had a date, I never went to a single party.
"Training was my whole life, and it was because I wanted to be able to win the Olympics more than I wanted to go to the movies with my friends. It's funny, because people get offended by the mind-set that it takes to be the best.
"If I say that I'm the best in the world, sometimes people think that's really cocky and arrogant, but I had to work hard to be able to believe in myself. In your teens, you start to become super self-conscious. I had to build that up," she explained.
Rousey became the youngest judoka to take part in the Olympics, when she qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens at the age of 17. But one of her biggest achievements so far has been winning the bronze medal in Judo in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
On being asked about one of her biggest lessons in life, she revealed: "The one that really sticks out in my mind comes from my mom. She'd always tell me that you have to be your best on your worst day, because what if the Olympics fall on a bad day?"
