Dana White: Ronda Rousey 'exhausted mentally, physically, personally' prior to UFC 193

Ronda Rousey hasn’t spoken publicly since her shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193. But that didn’t stop UFC President Dana White from echoing some of Rousey’s post-fight sentiments on her behalf.

Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) lost the UFC women’s bantamweight title to Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) via vicious head kick knockout in November and has received a tremendous amount of blowback and scrutiny ever since.

“Rowdy” has shied away from the spotlight since the loss, but that hasn’t stopped the world from speculating about what factors could have contributed to the defeat. It was clear from the fight there was a noticeable gap in skills in Holm’s favor; however, Rousey’s game plan was far from intelligent.

White revealed in a recent interview with TSN in Canada that he spent time with Rousey in the weeks following UFC 193 and she informed him she was run down by the hectic lifestyle that’s surrounded her since she was awarded the UFC championship in February 2013.

“I’ve talked to her almost every day after the fight,” White said. “When she sat down with me and Lorenzo (Fertitta) a few days ago, she said, ‘I was exhausted going into that fight,'” White said. “‘I was exhausted mentally, physically, personally.’ She had a lot of personal things going on, too, with her family. She’s gone into every fight (with lots of outside obligations) – Cat Zingano is one of the best fighters in the world (and) she beat her in 14 seconds, so I don’t know.”

Although Rousey routinely put forth the idea that she has bulletproof mental strength when entering competition, it would be difficult to avoid the litany of distractions that surrounded the UFC 193 showdown with Holm.

Ronda Rousey

Prior to the fight, Rousey’s mother had harsh words for her longtime trainer Edmond Tarverdyan. Her relationship with fellow UFC fighter Travis Browne was made public. She was pulled in various directions by endless media obligations. And on top it all, she had to prepare for an undefeated challenger with an athletic and combat sports pedigree unlike anything she’d seen in the octagon.

The seams on Rousey started to come loose at the weigh-ins prior to UFC 193, when she showed tremendous emotion toward Holm and the fighters nearly came to blows on the stage after making weight. It was a surprising move by Rousey and perhaps one that should have been a sign of distress.

“It was uncharacteristic of her,” White said of Rousey’s weigh-in antics. “She doesn’t act like that ever. Even against a girl like Bethe (Correia), who said a lot of bad things, and she really didn’t like Bethe Correia.”

It’s unknown when Rousey will break her silence and speak in depth about the issues that “exhausted” her prior to UFC 193. It’s going to happen eventually, though, because at some point she’ll be back in the spotlight for the rematch with Holm.

Despite the one-sided nature of the first bout, White said the rematch is the most logical booking and going in another direction would be a significant error in fight promotion.

Before that happens, though, White said he wants Rousey at 100 percent. The UFC boss admits he has a unique relationship with Rousey that differs from many others on the UFC roster. He said it wasn’t easy to watch Rousey knocked out and said he wants to provide her as much time as needed to rest and regain her focus so she can enter the rematch at her best.

“I’m never shocked at somebody losing, but it’s the way that she lost that was so shocking,” White said. “In the history of the sport, there’s been two people – Chuck Liddell, that I was very close to, and Ronda Rousey, I’m very close to. … She’s one of my very good friends, so to see her lose that way, yeah, it was tough.”

For complete coverage of UFC 193, check out the UFC Events section of the site.