{"id":587895,"date":"2026-04-07T11:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/587895\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:34:11","slug":"ronda-rousey-teams-up-with-unexpected-trainer-for-mma-comeback-i-hated-his-guts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/587895\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronda Rousey teams up with unexpected trainer for MMA comeback: \u2018I hated his guts\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronda Rousey<\/a> has admitted she used to \u201chate\u201d the \u201cguts\u201d of her new coach, who is preparing her for a much-anticipated return<\/a> to mixed martial arts (MMA<\/a>).<\/p>\n

On 16 May, Rousey will enter the cage for the first time in 10 years, taking on fellow trailblazer Gina Carano<\/a>, who has not fought since 2009.<\/p>\n

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Former UFC champion Rousey, 39, and Carano, 43, will headline an event organised by Jake Paul\u2019s Most Valuable Promotions<\/a>, with the action streaming live on Netflix.<\/p>\n

\"Ronda<\/p>\n

Ronda Rousey at the launch press conference for her MMA return (Getty)<\/p>\n

And Rousey, who has spent several spells in professional wrestling over the last decade, will be coached by Ricky Lundell, who trained Miesha Tate<\/a> for her second clash with Rousey.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cRowdy\u201d by being so polite.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were mortal enemies, started off as mortal enemies,\u201d Rousey said on her YouTube channel<\/a>. \u201cHe was coaching against me on The Ultimate Fighter and he was so nice; I was like, \u2018This motherf***** is so patronising and fake,\u2019 and I hated his guts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a common theme, by the way, that he\u2019s so nice that everyone was like: \u2018This motherf***** is not for real. He\u2019s really just being a passive-aggressive asshole.\u2019 But he\u2019s actually the nicest motherf*****, actually the nicest person you will ever meet \u2013 so nice that you don\u2019t think it\u2019s real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rousey got to know Lundell over the years that followed, as he coached her future husband Travis Browne.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was still like, \u2018F*** that guy,\u2019\u201d Rousey said. \u201cHe tried to hurt me, he tried to help somebody hurt me, and you\u2019re dead to me. But then he was [Travis\u2019s] coach. Trav\u2019s like, \u2018No, you\u2019ve got to give him a chance, he\u2019s a really nice guy,\u2019 but I was like \u2018dead to me\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rousey<\/p>\n

Rousey with opponent Gina Carano (centre-left) and (left to right) Nakisa Bidarian, Francis Ngannou, Philipe Lins and Jake Paul (Getty)<\/p>\n

Speaking with Lundell sat next to her, Rousey added: \u201cI fall into a deep depression, and Trav goes and stays at Ricky\u2019s house. We\u2019re at your house and I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI went from hating his guts to him changing my life for the better, and I\u2019ll be eternally grateful. It\u2019s been the greatest experience ever. He is my first ever black belt in judo. He started out as my student and now I\u2019m his student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rousey\u2019s UFC run ended with two knockout defeats, one by Holly Holm in 2015 and one by Amanda Nunes in 2016.<\/p>\n

Holm\u2019s win saw Rousey dethroned as bantamweight champion, and she failed to regain the belt when she fought Nunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ronda Rousey has admitted she used to \u201chate\u201d the \u201cguts\u201d of her new coach, who is preparing her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,146728,42649,5277,1296,638,224255,1867,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-587895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-gina-carano","12":"tag-guts","13":"tag-jake-paul","14":"tag-mixed-martial-arts","15":"tag-mma","16":"tag-ricky-lundell","17":"tag-ronda-rousey","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}