Is Ronda Rousey straining under the pressure, or priming herself to explode?

If you looked closely during Friday’s UFC 193 weigh-ins in Melbourne, Australia, you might have noticed it, this invisible warning label stamped on Ronda Rousey’s forehead. It flickered on and off during her heated staredown with challenger Holly Holm. It buzzed in neon when she railed against what she called Holm’s “fake sweet act” afterward.

BEWARE, the warning read. CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE.

Maybe that’s why it seems like Rousey hasn’t been enjoying her job very much lately. Or at least, she hasn’t been enjoying the parts of her job that come before her actual job, which is unfortunate, since one takes up so much more of her time than the other.

But these are strange days for the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion. Not only are more people paying attention every time she opens her mouth (or doesn’t, as was the case when her phone “died” right after she was asked a question about her private life that she didn’t care for), those people are also finding a lot worth scrutinizing.

Topics of potential interest and controversy range from the trivial to the serious. For instance, we haven’t talked this much about lube in MMA since the rematch between Georges St-Pierre and B.J. Penn. Then again, we also haven’t thought this much about the double-standards of domestic violence since, well, maybe ever.

Ronda Rousey

Then there’s all the little stuff. Does Rousey’s mom really hate her coach? If so, does it matter? And is her coach really broke, or just pretending to be? Which is worse, anyway?

Then there’s the fact that Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) still has to go out there and do her job in the cage – this time against former pro boxer Holm (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in UFC 193’s pay-per-view headliner. Her job? You know, the part that is usually the source of stress and concern for professional fighters. The part where their futures are decided.

But considering all the baggage Rousey’s been dragging around lately, you have to wonder whether this is one instance where the battleground might feel like a refuge. Between when the referee says fight and when he says stop, that’s the only time Rousey is guaranteed to be left alone. Which is weird, because it’s also the time when she’ll have a highly trained individual trying to punch her in the face.

But at least that’s a challenge you can put your hands on. It’s also one that Rousey can understand. All the other stuff, this nonstop scrutiny of her words and deeds, that’s a little newer for the champ. That’s the stuff that comes with being a superstar, even if no one adequately warns you about that side effect while they’re busy promising you mountains of money.

Maybe another way of looking at it is, the fight with Holm had better be some form of escape. Because if it’s not, and if Rousey can’t leave that baggage at the door when she steps in the cage, she won’t find any peace on the business end of Holm’s hands.

Then again, maybe you don’t wind up here to begin with if you aren’t the type of person who finds safe harbor in the eye of the storm. As much as Rousey seems to be straining under the pressure these days, maybe that’s just what it looks like when she’s priming herself to explode. Maybe, from a distance, her inner peace looks a lot like other people’s idea of outer chaos.

As for that baggage, no need to worry about it disappearing when she sets it down to go to work. It will still be there waiting for her the moment she sets foot outside the cage. That could be as good a reason as any to make this fight last longer than the others.

For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.