During an interview with Megan Olivi that aired during UFC 237, Ronda Rousey commented on the UFC vs. WWE, her WWE run and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On wrestling vs. MMA: “It’s physical in a different way. Like, fighting is definitely — the stress from fighting is much, much more. It’s like, I could get in a random fight, someone could walk into this room right now and I’ll beat the f**k out of anyone on this planet, you know. But it’s the training camp, the weeks leading up to it, the press, and going to sleep every night thinking about it and all those things. That’s the real wear and tear, not so much the physical part of it. And of course, with fights you assume, ‘Okay, I’ll give myself at least a month to recover after that.’ It’s a peaking system, you allow yourself to peak and crash. With WWE it’s just a grind and it’s non-stop. And like, I did the easy version, everybody else does 300 days a year. Their bodies don’t get to rest as much as ours in MMA, but their minds get to rest a lot more than we do in MMA I feel like. There’s no pressure on anything.”
On her time in WWE: “When I first came into the organization I was like, ‘Hey, I would really like to do this for a couple months, I’m gonna have a baby soon. Just so ya know, this isn’t forever.’ But my one request when we first started is, I wanted to finish my storyline with Stephanie. That was my request, because I love Stephanie McMahon so much. Which is so funny because we’re supposed to hate each other. But I love her! Oh my God, I love her so much! It’s so great to get that out. I love all of the girls so much.”
On main eventing WrestleMania: “Yeah, it felt big. It’s just — I think it just has to do with the time and the perspective. Me and Liz Carmouche [at UFC 157] felt bigger to me. Even though it was years ago, and not as many people watched. It was at the Honda Center which holds maybe 16,000 to 20,000 compared to WrestleMania where it was in front of maybe 80,000 people and millions watching. I just felt me and Carmouche was the most pivotal moment had to happen that way or women’s MMA would have ended before it started. With WrestleMania it just felt like all the stars were aligned and the whole universe was conspiring for us to succeed and there was not a single doubt in my mind that we would. For Carmouche, there were so many outside factors: the numbers had to do well, I had to win the match, but I had to win the match in an exciting way, and there were so many other factors I had to worry about.”
(h/t 411 Wrestling)
