Ronda Rousey has admitted she used to “hate” the “guts” of her new coach, who is preparing her for a much-anticipated return to mixed martial arts (MMA).
On 16 May, Rousey will enter the cage for the first time in 10 years, taking on fellow trailblazer Gina Carano, who has not fought since 2009.
Former UFC champion Rousey, 39, and Carano, 43, will headline an event organised by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, with the action streaming live on Netflix.
And Rousey, who has spent several spells in professional wrestling over the last decade, will be coached by Ricky Lundell, who trained Miesha Tate for her second clash with Rousey.
Rousey submitted Tate in Strikeforce in 2012 then did the same in the UFC in 2013, and ahead of that second bout, Lundell unintentionally aggravated “Rowdy” by being so polite.
“We were mortal enemies, started off as mortal enemies,” Rousey said on her YouTube channel. “He was coaching against me on The Ultimate Fighter and he was so nice; I was like, ‘This motherf***** is so patronising and fake,’ and I hated his guts.
“This is a common theme, by the way, that he’s so nice that everyone was like: ‘This motherf***** is not for real. He’s really just being a passive-aggressive asshole.’ But he’s actually the nicest motherf*****, actually the nicest person you will ever meet – so nice that you don’t think it’s real.”
Rousey got to know Lundell over the years that followed, as he coached her future husband Travis Browne.
“I was still like, ‘F*** that guy,’” Rousey said. “He tried to hurt me, he tried to help somebody hurt me, and you’re dead to me. But then he was [Travis’s] coach. Trav’s like, ‘No, you’ve got to give him a chance, he’s a really nice guy,’ but I was like ‘dead to me’.”
Speaking with Lundell sat next to her, Rousey added: “I fall into a deep depression, and Trav goes and stays at Ricky’s house. We’re at your house and I’m basically just in the one room, the same room I stay in now, just smoking weed and playing World Of Warcraft all day, and I would only emerge to eat cereal. But you were really nice and kept me supplied. There was cereal and milk at all times.
“I went from hating his guts to him changing my life for the better, and I’ll be eternally grateful. It’s been the greatest experience ever. He is my first ever black belt in judo. He started out as my student and now I’m his student.”
Rousey’s UFC run ended with two knockout defeats, one by Holly Holm in 2015 and one by Amanda Nunes in 2016.
Holm’s win saw Rousey dethroned as bantamweight champion, and she failed to regain the belt when she fought Nunes.
UFC 327: Prochazka vs Ulberg start time, undercard and how to watch fight
Darren Till teases ‘massive announcement’ as he leaves Misfits Boxing
How Jake Paul suddenly emerged as the UFC and Dana White’s biggest threat
Alex Yee given key role in British record bid on London Marathon return
The next great British rivalry targeting Mo Farah’s marathon record
Adam Gemili retires: ‘I missed an Olympic medal in the time it takes to blink’
