Jessamyn Duke details Ronda Rousey cutting 17 pounds in 24 hours to prove a point

Say what you will about Ronda Rousey; she’s bitchy, too tough, a bad sport, everything TUF editing has made her out to be. But one thing you can’t deny is her mental fortitude. Ronda wants to win at everything, and that’s what sets her apart from any wannabes or could’ve beens. I personally love Ronda’s attitude, I think she’s a badass. People who think that she’s got a bad attitude don’t know what it takes to make it to the top of an industry like she has.

Last night on TUF, yet another fighter missed weight, and Jessamyn Duke saw Ronda Rousey cut 17 pounds in 24 hours to prove a point. She detailed the process in her blog:

Anthony tried to say that it just wasn’t possible for him to cut the weight because he had screwed up on his diet. But here’s the thing, he could have made it. He left the gym the night before at 144, which is well within a range to make the weight. There is a science to cutting weight and lots of things that we as fighters can do to make it easier on ourselves, but the BIGGEST factor in the weight cut is your mental fortitude…and this is what Ronda wanted to prove.

She jumped on the scale after Anthony missed weight and was 152 pounds. Without any sort of prep (diet, water loading, sodium loading/cutting, etc.) jumped in the sauna and was in there for FIVE hours before it was time to go to the coaches challenge. Yes, Ronda Rousey cut weight in the sauna for five hours, went to a rock climbing challenge, won, and then went BACK to the sauna that night and cut some more.

The next day when it was time for Jessica and Raquel to fight, she was at the gym before anyone else arrived and was back in the sauna cutting weight. When the rest of us arrived she was sitting at 136 pounds in the locker room. I watched her warm up Rakoczy for her fight while on weight and then step on the scale in front of Dana and be 135 pounds. She did this to prove a point.

Cutting weight is mental. You can’t use screwing up your diet or your water loading as an excuse. If you miss weight, it’s because you mentally broke. The fact that she pulled this off really showed that Ronda is on another level mentally. It was inspiring and motivating to see this happen in front of me. It made me realize that I never have to be afraid of missing weight… you just have to be mentally strong and never give up.

Unfortunately, Anthony gave up.