5 Steps to the redemption of Ronda Rousey

#5 Rebuild her confidence step-by-step

Rousey is a famous pop culture icon.

Rousey’s entire game was built around confidence; sheer, unadulterated confidence. Most fighters, when broken, mentally, exhibit signs of it when they go through the resultant downward spiral in their career.

Now, there is a thin line of difference between being uber-confident and being delusional. I choose to give Rousey the benefit of the doubt, in this case, and feel that Rousey has always had a chip-on-the-shoulder type of unshakeable confidence.

She isn’t foolish enough to be delusional.

That said, after suffering two back-to-back brutal knockout losses, any fighter’s confidence would be shaken, at least to a certain extent. We, as fans, cannot possibly predict what Rousey’s level on confidence is, at the moment.

However, we can attest to the fact that in order to rebuild the confidence of a person, who has gone through such a terrible, highly publicized phase in a sport that is insanely high on emotions; it needs to be done step-by-step.

For all the criticism about Rousey’s head coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, he has never been one, to question Rousey’s confidence. Now, since Tarverdyan, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have the coaching abilities to go along with his confidence-inspiring speeches; we can agree that Rousey should surround herself with a new authority figure in her training regime.

A big trade up from her current coach would be Greg Jackson at the Jackson-Winklejohn camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or Firas Zahabi at the Tristar gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After all who can forget the inspiring quote directed toward Georges St Pierre by Jackson-‘Hit him with your groin Georges’ (in response to St Pierre telling Jackson that he had torn his groin, between rounds).

However, considering the fact that Holly Holm trains at Jackson-Winklejohn, Tristar would be a better option for Rousey; if only for the purpose of avoiding any gym brawls or awkward training sessions between them.

Furthermore, Rousey can even go back to her Judo roots and build herself up step-by-step. The Klitschko brothers (Vitali and Wladimir) are well-known in the world of professional boxing, for going back to their pugilistic basics before each training camp, especially if they happen to have suffered a devastating loss like Rousey just did.

In conclusion, I would like to state something that may strike fans and MMA pundits as a bit odd, and it is, actually. After all this speculation regarding which gym Rousey needs to move to (Yes, Rousey has to leave Edmond), the most logical solution seems to be Alliance MMA which, much like Rousey’s current gym is also located in California.

The reason behind this is the excellent defensive stand-up coaching that Coach Eric Del Fierro and veterans like Dominick Cruz can provide to Rousey. Besides, Cat Zingano, a former Rousey opponent also trains at the same gym.

Now, if anyone knows how to make a comeback like a champ, it is the ‘Alpha’ Cat.

Zingano looked good in her comeback fight against Pena, and although she lost due to Pena being quite literally a human blanket, she got in the rounds, and shook off the ring rust. If there is any single individual from whom Rousey can learn to rebuild one’s confidence, it is Zingano.

Regardless of what happens moving forward, Rousey will always be a champion, but if she ever does feel the need to step back into the Octagon, she’ll have to do it step-by-step.