Ronda Rousey Childhood Story Plus Untold Biography Facts

Childhood Biography presents the Full Story of an American singer and MMA Superstar best known by the nickname “The Arm Collector”.

Our Ronda Rousey Childhood Story plus Untold Biography Facts brings you a full account of notable events from her childhood time to date.

The analysis of the WWE and MMA Star involves her early life & family background, life story before fame, rise to fame story, relationship and personal life. More so, other OFF and ON-Screen little-known facts about her.

Yes, everyone knows about her ability to destroy arms. However, only a few consider Ronda Rousey’s Biography, which is quite interesting. Now, without further ado, let’s begin.

Ronda Rousey Childhood Story – Early Life and Family Background:

Starting off, Ronda Jean Rousey was born on the 1st day of February 1987 in Riverside County, California.

She was born as the youngest of three daughters to her mother, AnnMaria DeMars (a former World Judo Champion) and father Ron Rousey (a US Army veteran).

Ronda was born different, with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck which led to slight brain damage and damage to her vocal cords.

 

She nearly died from a lack of oxygen the moment during her birth. The damage to her vocal cords impeded her ability to speak an intelligible word until she was six.

Within those years, Ronda had her parents, especially her mum, took very good care of her even in her busy Judo schedule.

A positive father–daughter relationship had a huge impact on getting Ronda to speak and shape her self-esteem. Unfortunately, that relationship was short-lived as tragedy once struck the Rousey family.

Father Committing Suicide two years after Ronda began talking:

A tragedy fell upon Ronda Rousey’s family just two years after she began speaking as a child.

While Sledding with his daughters, her dad Ron had a rocky accident which resulted in him breaking his back.

 

The break in the spinal cord caused a blood disorder that prevented his back from healing and led to further complications, in this case, paralysis.

After a few years, Ron, who was still struggling to get himself healed, was further diagnosed with Bernard-Soulier Syndrome.

This is a rare blood disorder. As hospital bills piled up, he was told he had just two years to live. Ron couldn’t hold it after hearing the news. Painfully, he decided to take his own life.

Little Ronda was 8, while her sisters were 9 and 12, respectively as at the time of their father’s death.

“I was all they had,” says their mother, AnnMaria, who, together with her Judo career, still had to work three jobs to support her three daughters and pay the growing stack of bills.

“I never want to be a person my children would not be proud to point to as their mom.” said AnnMaria.

Ronda Rousey Biography – Early Career Life:

Growing up, Ronda exhibited some unfeminine attributes. As a young girl, she was a self-professed tomboy who had a hard time socializing with other kids.

This resulted in Ronda struggling in class, thus making her mum intervene by deciding she would be homeschooled for parts of her elementary and high school.

While being homeschooled, Ronda had the time to participate in sports. Her first sport was swimming. She swam between the ages of 6 to 10 and once competed on the Jr. Olympic swim team at the state level.

Learning Judo from her Mum:

While living her life as a child without a dad, Ronda got inspired by her sporty mum who became a 7th-degree black belt holder and the first female World Judo Champion in the United States.

Ronda decided to leave her swimming hobby and got serious about following in her mum’s footsteps. This decision came after her mum Ann Maria successfully persuaded her sweet little daughter to learn judo.

As Heavy Reports once puts it, Ronda used the unfathomable tragedy of her father’s death and her mum’s motivation to spawn their fighting career.

She began judo with her mother at the age of 11 and trained with her mother until she was 13, that crazy year, she accidentally broke her mother’s wrist. Below is a video of Ronda Rousey’s early life story in summary.

Ronda’s confidence through Jodo paid off as she became the youngest judoka at the age of 17 in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

She was a special kind of athlete who won the majority in the first round by armbar submission.

 

That same year in 2004, Ronda also lifted a gold medal at the World Junior Judo Championships in Budapest.

In August 2008, Rousey competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.  Did you know?…

She became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women’s judo since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992.

 

Ronda Rousey Biography – Road to Fame Story:

Post-Olympic Years:

After the Olympic victory, Rousey retired from judo a time she was 21 years old. After retirement, Rousey went on to get a job.

She shared a studio apartment with a roommate in Venice Beach, California and worked three jobs as a bartender and cocktail waitress to support herself and her dog.

Mixed Martial Arts:

While serving as a bartender, Rousey started attending Hayastan MMA Academy, run by Gokor Chivichyan, where she trained with fellow future MMA fighters.

She trained mostly with males bigger than her and often got frustrated and cried when she got thrown and couldn’t throw somebody.

Rousey made her mixed martial arts debut as an amateur on August 6, 2010. She defeated Hayden Munoz by submission due to an armbar in 23 seconds. She continued to thrive in MMA competitions, with an average armbar wins in under 2 minutes.

 

Even after Rousey made her professional mixed martial arts debut on March 27, 2011 and continue to dominate competitions which led to her becoming the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion.

 

Fighting for Women’s Cause- UFC:

She ventured into activism during her mixed martial art career years. In 2012, Ronda took it upon herself to fight for women’s participation in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

 

Her struggle for women’s UFC rights paid off as she got the attention of UFC President Dana White, who cancelled the rule. Ronda Rousey thus became known as for 1st Woman to sign with UFC.

When the Going Gets Tough:

In her seventh title defence, Rousey, in November 2015, faced Holly Holm in the UFC 193 main event. Despite huge bets placed on her, Rousey was unable to beat Holm, instead taking superior strikes from her.

 

Early in the second round, Holm knocked Rousey out with a deadly high kick to the neck. This brought an end to Rousey’s three-year reign as champion.

After over a year away from the sport, Rousey returned to face current champion Amanda Nunes who defeated her via TKO just 48 seconds into the first round. Rousey had no answer to Nunes’ straight and overhand punches and shots.

 

During this period of subsequent losses, determination and self-belief still remained Rousey’s watchwords.

Ronda Rousey Biography – Rise to Fame Story:

Between the years 2014 to 2017, Ronda started making sporadic appearances in the WWE. Knowing she would be called into WWE, she decided to seek a nickname.

Her current WWE nickname, “Rowdy“, was taken from late professional wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, whom she asked for permission before using the name.

 

In 2017, Rousey signed with the WWE on a full-time basis. Her challenge and later win of the WWE title against Alexa Bliss in 2018 made her the biggest mainstream woman star.

 

The rest, as they say, is history.

Ronda Rousey Relationships:

Spending much of her time with her fellow Mixed Martial Arts/UFC colleagues than almost anyone else led to vicinity attractions.

This is a situation where you develop feelings for someone because you’re around them all the time.

Love Story with Timothy DiGorrio:

After meeting and spending much of her time with her fellow martial artist, Timothy DiGorrio in 2012 in LA, Ronda Rousey started dating him.

They were together for a year before ending their relationship in 2013, after she dealt with him for taking nude photos of her.

Love Story with Brendan Schaub:

 

Additionally, from 2013 to 2014, Ronda was again romantically linked with the retired mixed martial artist Brendan Schaub. That as well, didn’t last long as Brendan backed out, accusing her in his words…

 “She needs a guy who’s gonna take a backseat, and that’s not me. She also needs a man who’s going to say ‘yes, ma’am, yes ma’am.’

Meeting Travis Browne:

 

Then came another relationship with UFC fighter Travis Browne whom Ronda announced her engagement after a romantic proposal under a waterfall in New Zealand.

The lovebirds got married on the 28th day of August 2017 in the state of Hawaii, which is Browne’s home represents).

 

Ronda Rousey Family Life:

Ronda Rousey is of English, Polish, Trinidadian, and Venezuelan ancestry. Her maternal great-grandfather was an Afro-Venezuelan descent and goes by the name Alfred E Waddel. He was one of the first black doctors in North America.

About Ronda Rousey’s Mother:

 

AnnMaria De Mars was born on the 15th day of August 1958 to her father, Joseph Arthur Waddell and her mother, Marcella Ann Waddell, in the medical unit of Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, United States.

AnnMaria began practising judo at age 12 and managed to successfully juggle sport and school. Despite being involved in physically demanding sports like Judo, her accomplishments in the academic line came before her 26th birthday.

Did you know?… AnnMaria finished college at the age of 16, earned her degree in business at age 20 and got her MBA from the University of Minnesota in 1980 at age 22 and her PhD in Educational Psychology about 28 years ago from the time of writing.

The mother of Ronda Rousey is a tough lady who still gets respect for winning a gold medal at the World Judo Championships in the 1984 World Judo Tournament. Below is a photo of her after winning the gracious tournament.

Even in her old age, AnnMaria is still a tireless worker and a dedicated trainer of her daughter.

 

As of the time of writing, AnnMaria is into Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tech executive. She is the founder of 7 Generation Games, a company that creates video games.

Moving on after Ron Rousey’s Death:

After the death of her husband Ron, AnnMaria eventually remarried an aerospace engineer or rocket scientist–not literally, but that’s what Ronda calls him. She later gave birth to her fourth daughter Julia De Mars who is pictured below with her mum.

 

Julia De Mars grew up to be a standout high school soccer player who sometimes takes part in UFC promotions.

About Ronda Rousey’s Sisters:

Maria Burns-Ortiz: 

The firstborn child of the late Ron Rousey and AnnMaria is Maria Burns Ortiz. She is an ICT professional, an award-winning journalist and an international best-selling author.

 

Maria Burns Ortiz, together with her mum, is a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer for 7 Generation Games. She co-authored a book titled; “My Fight/Your Fight” with Ronda Rousey.

The book was once a bestseller in five countries. It has also been translated in nine languages (including Mongolian!).

Jennifer Rousey:

She is a history teacher who earned her master’s from USC by the time she was 24. Jennifer, unlike Maria and Ronda, lives a low-key life. She got married in July 2014 and lived peacefully with her husband.

 

Personal Life:

Getting to know Ronda Rousey’s personal life would help you get a complete picture of her.

She can be a Man-beater:

 

When pushed to the wall, Ronda has the usual habit of showcasing angry facial gestures afterwards follows, beating her target, be it a man or woman.

She is capable of putting up a fight against any man who plays with her privacy.

According to Sporting News, Ronda, in her autobiography titled “My Fight/Your Fight.” once released a narrative on how she beat up her ex-boyfriend, whom she caught taking nude photographs of her without her knowledge.

“I deleted the photos. Then I erased the hard drive. Then I waited for Snappers McCreepy to come home from work. I stood frozen like a statue in his kitchen, getting angrier and angrier.

I started cracking my knuckles and clenched my teeth. The longer I waited, the madder I got. Forty-five minutes later, he walked in the door. He saw my face and froze….” Then came the beating.

 

Ronda Rousey Movie Facts:

 

Did you know?… While training a fight, Rousey agreed to get filmed in “The Expendables 3” (2014). She played as a nightclub bouncer recruited to join a team of mercenaries. Ronda also appeared in the 2015 films Furious 7 and Entourage.

In August 2018, Ronda acted in the international crime thriller Mile 22, a story about a special CIA force tasked with the responsibility of protecting a valuable intelligence asset from a group of terrorists.

The movie “Ronda Rousey: Breaking Ground” gave remarkable rise to Ronda as the first female champion in UFC history. Finally, “Through My Father’s Eyes” examines the life and career of Ronda as an Olympic judoka and MMA superstar.

Appreciation Note:

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