TUF 18: Has The Show Brought Ronda Rousey’s True Colors To Light?

z13087862Q,Ronda RouseyRecent episodes of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 18 have provided all of the back-and-forth drama that a show featuring archrival coaches Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate promised to. Rousey holds a 1-2 record as a coach, just gaining her first win on this week’s episode.

Many people have been quick to judge Rousey’s emotional nature as a coach. She’s been shown as always on edge during the show, attempting to instill a type of killer instinct within her fighters. That hasn’t always worked, and Rousey has incurred the inevitable criticism because of it. Viewers of the show may see her as standoffish and confrontational, thanks in part to her ongoing beef with Tate’s boyfriend Bryan Caraway.

On Wednesday’s show, Rousey’s mother Ann Maria De Mars appeared to her team. This week, she released a statement on her personal blog that trashes how the show has portrayed her champion daughter:

“From the fraction of the entire time I observed, it appeared that Ronda was taunted quite a bit without being allowed to respond, with a deliberate intent to create a certain image for television.  Maybe they’ll show some of that on the episode, maybe not. For those of you who say she cries too much – she’s always cried like that all of her life. Who the hell are you people to enforce a crying quota? If she cries over sad movies, happy endings and losing her car keys, what’s it to you? I’m the opposite of that. I’ve cried three times in the last twenty years, and one of those was when Ronda’s father died. So, she can have my share of the quota and it averages out. Incidentally, she started the program at Gompers Middle School and taught there as a volunteer for two years before her mixed martial arts career heated up.

This is just a FEW of the things she has done for charity, for the community. There are a lot more. And yet, she’s not a nice person because she says, “Fuck”. Are you fucking kidding me?

You know, of those thousands of people who were fed from her various free rice contests, I’ll bet not one of them would have been happier to go without food unless it came from someone who talked like Strawberry Shortcake.

Since Ronda steals my lines all of the time, I’ll take one of hers, To be a champion, you have to be willing to let your heart be broken.

Ronda cares if she wins. When she loses it feels like the whole world fell in. She’s extremely loyal to people and when they are hurt, it hurts her.”

This is quite the emotional response from an obviously concerned mother, but does it really accomplish anything in the grand scheme of MMA? Rousey is supposed to be an unstoppable martial arts champion, so having your mom come to your side so defensively probably won’t do much to debunk any bad views the fans have come up with.

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It begs the question of if TUF 18 is truly bringing ‘Rowdy’s’ true colors or not. She may just be an extremely passionate fighter who has undying loyalty to her teammates, and when they lose, she feels responsible. That’s entirely possible. On the other hand, she may be putting too much pressure on her team members.

It’s been discussed that perhaps she would work more on technique with her fighters rather than having them believe that they’re unstoppable. That belief may have lead to overconfidence in their first two losses.

Rousey may or not have been portrayed in an accurate manner on the show; it’s tough to say. However, when you sign up for a show as in-your-face as TUF, you’ve got to expect a certain amount of drama and editing that will take the best course for ratings success. That’s television, and it only makes matter worse that this is the first TUF season to feature women and men together.

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This show was about drama. It’s no secret that TUF needed a big shot in the arm after a few lackluster seasons in recent years. This was that shot, and it has people talking. But there has to be a bad guy, and Rousey immediately stepped into that role with her intense attitude.

I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, but Tate has assuredly come off as the more calm, understanding, and helpful coach. Part of that could be the editing, part of it could be the truth.

Do you think that TUF has brought Rousey’s true colors to light? And what do you make of her mother’s emotional remarks?