Ronda Rousey’s PR mandate: Don’t ask about fighting, or ‘she will walk out’

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was recently interviewed by an Australian news program, but questions about fighting were forbidden by her PR staff. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm may be just days away fro…

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was recently interviewed by an Australian news program, but questions about fighting were forbidden by her PR staff.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm may be just days away from her first title defense against Miesha Tate, but the interview rounds over the past month have largely circled around former champ, Ronda Rousey. Her most high-profile interview happened two weeks ago on The Ellen Showwhere she revealed that she had suicidal thoughts after losing to Holm.

Australia’s 7 News Perth traveled to Vancouver, BC to interview Rousey, who was doing a motion capture session for the EA Sports UFC 2 video game set to release in two weeks. Questions about her acting career, her body paint photos for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Series, and just her general love of Australia were a-okay to be made. But before the interview started, Ronda’s PR team said that no questions about fighting were permitted, or else she would walk out.

“She’s a fighter! It’s like asking to do a story on a [basketball player] and not talking about basketball,” said reporter Mike Amor.

Video of the 67 second clip can be seen at the top of the page.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the issue of Rousey and answering media questions has occurred. Prior to her UFC 193 loss, Rousey abruptly left a media conference call when asked about her personal relationship with Travis Brownewho was accused of domestic violence by his now ex-wife. Rousey’s eventual explanation for dropping off the call was simply, “My phone died.”