UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey may have been one of the head coaches on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, but that doesn’t mean she felt the need to watch any of the episodes when they aired.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani during the TUF 18 Finale on Saturday, “Rowdy” gave an unexpected answer when asked what she thought of the way she was portrayed on the reality series.
“I still haven’t watched any of the episodes,” Rousey responded. “Not even one?” Helwani replied with a surprised tone.
“No, my achievements and my goals are my business and everyone’s feedback is not one of them,” Rousey stated. “If you really want to get to know the real person, ya know, via a reality TV show … I mean that’s like saying we all know who the real Kim Kardashian is. For all I know, she’s a rocket scientist.”
In fairness, the former Olympic-level Judoka also noted that she is happy the female competitors on the show got exposure and then some got an opportunity to compete inside the Octagon.
Rousey has been heavily criticized for the way she conducted herself on the show, with TUF 18 winner Julianna Pena, who was coached by Rousey rival Miesha Tate, being one of her biggest detractors.
The 26-year-old, who has won all seven of her professional fights with an armbar in the first round, rematches Tate at UFC 168 later this month.
During their first encounter for the Strikeforce bantamweight title in March of last year, “Cupcake” controlled the action early, taking Rousey‘s back for a brief period of time before succumbing to a particularly gruesome armbar at the tail end of the round.
Both well-known female fighters have stated they expect a definitive win this time around, citing vast improvements in their respective games since their first matchup.
Is it strange that Rousey has never taken to the time to watch a show she spent months filming, or is it really not a big deal one way or the other?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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