Ronda Rousey’s first and only loss of her UFC career to date was tough to deal with. The former women’s bantamweight champion said things were so bad that she dealt with suicidal thoughts, which she divulged during a recent appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show.
That revelation caused quite a stir, and it elicited reactions ranging from support to criticism from fans, the media, Holly Holm (the woman she lost to at UFC 193) and WWE star Brock Lesnar.
TMZ recently caught up with the MMA star, and she explained why she shared that very personal story on “Ellen.”
“I feel like there’s been an overly negative light on (discussing suicidal thoughts),” Rousey told TMZ. “It’s something real people are going through, not something like a weakness that we should condemn.”
She added: “It’s really heavily affected our family … anything I can do to make sure it affects as few people as possible, I’d be happy to do that.”
That wasn’t the only thing she talked about, though. She also responded to the controversy surrounding boxer Manny Pacquiao, who’s anti-gay comments have caused quite the stir.
“I understand that a lot of people use religion as a reason to be against gay people, but there was no ‘Thou Shall Not Be Gay,'” Rousey said. “God never said that, and I really think that our pope now is boss. He was saying something the other day that religion should be all-encompassing and should be about loving everyone. And I think people take the wrong message sometimes.”
Thumbnail photo via Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports Images
