Ronda Rousey’s Bold Training Move

Rousey admitted that she found Lundell’s famously polite demeanor insufferable during the filming of the show. The bridge between the two was actually Rousey’s husband, former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne. Lundell coached Browne for years, and over time, Rousey found herself spending more time around Lundell’s circle.

“We were mortal enemies. Started off as mortal enemies. He was coaching against me on The Ultimate Fighter and he was so nice, I was like this m*********** is so patronizing and fake and I hated his guts. It was like the monkey in the closet from Family Guy. That was me to Ricky all the time.“This is a common theme, by the way, that he’s so nice that everyone was like ‘this m********* is not for real.’ He’s really just being a passive-aggressive a******, but he’s actually the nicest m***********. Actually, the nicest person you will ever meet. So nice that you don’t think it’s real,” Rousey said

The Benefits

Lundell has worked with some of the most dominant wrestlers in MMA history, including Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Unlike her previous coaching staff, who often tried to turn her into a world-class boxer, Lundell is likely to focus on chain-wrestling and positional dominance. In a fight against Carano—who was primarily a Muay Thai specialist—Rousey doesn’t need to out-strike her; she needs the sophisticated entries to get the fight to the floor safely.

The primary concern is whether a 39-year-old Rousey can physically implement a new system after 10 years of muscle memory in a different style. Lundell’s systems are often based on high-level collegiate wrestling transitions. While Rousey is an Olympic Judoka, the rhythm of wrestling is fundamentally different from Judo.