The first takeaway from UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey’s memoir, “My Fight/Your Fight” (Regan Arts), is that she really hates to lose. The second takeaway is that she really hates Miesha Tate. The third takeaway is that, no matter how you feel about the most polarizing fighter in WMMA, she’s a legit champion.
The memoir, co-written by Rousey’s sister Maria Burns-Ortiz, is presented like a self-help book, with every chapter teaching a life lesson centered around a period of Rousey’s life. Sometimes the lesson has to be hammered to fit into this framing, but for the most part it works, and makes the book a page-turning journey of Rousey’s life.
“My Fight/Your Fight” – A Record of Rousey’s Perseverance
The suicide of Rousey’s father, a man burdened by incredible, chronic pain due to an accident, was a watershed moment in her life. There are real emotions as she tells of his death and funeral, and the folded American flag handed to her mother, who kept it folded until the day thirteen years later when Rousey won her Bronze Olympic Medal in Judo.
The best parts of the book show the sacrifice and mental and physical endurance it takes to be an elite Olympic and MMA athlete, including a chapter giving a detailed run-down of one of Rousey’s fight camps, complete with nutrition tips and recipes.
Rousey fans will likely be interested in all of this, as well as reading about Rousey’s struggle with bulimia, her fun filming “The Expendables 3,” and a string of bad boyfriends. But what they probably secretly really want to know is how Rousey feels about her opponents.
She respects Liz Carmouche and Cat Zingano, and really dislikes Miesha Tate. We never really discover why she dislikes Tate so much, even after pages of saying why she does. Everyone has that one person that they cannot stand, and Miesha Tate is that person for Rousey. It’s sometimes more interesting to discover what Rousey doesn’t mention in her memoir. Her perennial almost-opponent Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino isn’t mentioned once. Nor is Rousey’s controversial statements regarding transgender fighter Fallon Fox and the Sandy Hook shootings.
“My Fight/Your Fight” is often brutally honest, but rarely terribly introspective. Rousey doesn’t seem to realize the irony of using so much ink on her nemesis Miesha Tate. Nor does she accept any responsibility for her feud with Tate. This lack of awareness concerning this and other social interactions is a visible thread throughout the book’s narrative.
Another visible thread is Rousey’s perseverance. The perseverance not just to be the best she can be, but also the perseverance to prove to UFC boss Dana White women deserve to be fighters, deserve to be in the UFC, deserve to be lauded as champions. For that alone Ronda Rousey has earned her place in MMA history. “My Fight/Your Fight” is a record of that perseverance as legit as Rousey’s undefeated record.
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