It was the most discussed moment in the most critically acclaimed episode in “UFC Primetime” history: Ronda Rousey’s tearful recollection of her father’s suicide.
The first of the three-part “UFC Primetime: Rousey vs. Carmouche” series was already memorable before Rousey’s story brought the episode to a stunning conclusion, as it introduced casual MMA fans to the life stories of both Rousey, the UFC bantamweight champion, and her opponent, Liz Carmouche, the former Marine Corps sergeant.
At Tuesday’s media teleconference promoting UFC 157, Rousey explained the reason why she opened up in such an emotional manner. The champion has gotten tired of recounting such a painful memory, and decided if she told the story once and for all, she’d never have to tell it again.
“I guess I got to the point where I was getting fed up with being asked to recount that over and over,” said Rousey. “And I really felt like this is the final time that I’m ever going to talk about the way that my father died. And I really felt like, since this was the last time I’m going to say it, I’m going to tell the story in the best way that I could.”
Rousey also gave a glimpse behind the scenes at the filming of “Primetime,” saying she had been interviewed for hours by the time they got around to discussing her father’s death, which occurred when Rousey was eight years old and living in North Dakota.
“People don’t see with those interviews, a lot of times they go on for hours,” Rousey said. “You know, it’s like an interrogation, they try to wear you down and get you emotional. They’re very good at what they do. There’s just been a lot of media and it got to the point where there was so many people asking questions like that. They do it in a very calculated way. First they ask you about the good memories, and stuff like that, and it brings you back when you recount the good stuff, and then they immediately jump to the hard question.”
Carmouche doesn’t have such a gut-punch of a story to tell. But the “Primetime” segment which featured Carmouche was ground-breaking. The Iraq War vet, who is now the highest-profile openly gay fighter in the sport, was shown around her home in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood spending time with her partner, Elisa Lopez.
“I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback,” said Carmouche. “I don’t think people really had an idea about my life or about Ronda’s life, so we kind of gave them a little bit more than they knew before. Now a lot of people are calling me at the gym and looking to come in and start training.”