Even though former MMA bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, lost her belt to pro boxing champion Holly Holm last month, people are still throwing shots at her up until now.
For some reason, the social media has turned against Rousey, many of which didn’t exactly have any constructive criticism. A lot them threw shots Rousey and simply overlooked the fact that there’s no one who can top what she has accomplished in such a short amount of time.
Rousey’s sister, Maria Burns Ortiz, wrote an essay for Vice Sports discussing all those statements and other things that are thrown at her sister.
“Occasionally I wonder how people could say such awful things about someone they don’t even know, someone they’ve never met. I attribute it to the fact that their mothers probably didn’t love them enough, and then I briefly curse out the part of the Internet that allows people to hide behind anonymity as they let out the worst parts of themselves. Sometimes, all you can do is think, ‘What the f*ck is wrong with you people?’,” Ortiz said.
Rousey, on the other hand, has kept mum about the devastating loss against Holly Holm last UFC 193. She did open up during the interview with ESPN The Magazine and was seen by some tabloid companies, but other than that, she didn’t make any more comments about the MMA fight. Ortiz, who is actually a sports writer and the co-author of Rousey’s book, described how it was to be with the former champion during the whole ordeal.
Burns also revealed that she has not seen the actual footage of the MMA fight, nor have read all the bad stuff people have been saying about her sister.
“I don’t see a point in reliving the moment when a part of my loved one died, when I saw someone I cared about have her soul crushed. I saw how horrible people can be to someone they don’t even know, which made me even more appreciative when I saw how wonderfully Ronda’s friends and family treated her. Those are the people that matter,” Burns Ortiz wrote.
Burns Ortiz also explained that her sister had a lot on her plate leading up to the fight as the former bantamweight champion had plenty of media responsibilities to attend to, which was most probably the reason why her sister became one of the most talked about athletes in the world. Ortiz also said that she knows Rousey will be able to get back on her feet, stronger than ever, as she has already witnessed this back when Rousey was still in the Olympics.
Ortiz also said that she still cannot understand where all the hate was coming from. But instead of going head to head to each and every bad comment that surfaces, Ortiz opted to take the high road and not let these bad comments get the best of her.
“I hear that people say insensitive, hateful, disgusting things about my sister and my mother and I don’t try to make sense of it, because you can’t. There’s something very strange, though, when the world seems to think they know someone… this idea that society suddenly owns a right to build someone up or tear them down because they are a public figure. To watch that happen to someone you love is enough to drive you insane… unless you tune it out, which I do,” Ortiz added.