Mindset Lessons From Ronda Rousey's Loss

Blog written by Coach Mike Moor

”Returning to winning was my entire focus this past year”

Ronda Rousey has had an illustrious career from an Olympic Gold to being the face of Women’s MMA. However, she made one pivotal mistake that ultimately contributed to her demise – her focus was on winning and getting her belt back instead of just getting better every day. Kyle Snyder was quoted saying that he didn’t train to win an Olympic title; he trained to get better every single day knowing that if he could do that, he would be capable of winning gold. Unfortunately, Ronda seemed to be caught up in the end result instead of focusing on the process and working on areas that needed improvement.

The same can be said during competition. At Wrestling Mindset, we talk about focusing on things other than the score or the outcome during your matches, specifically your effort, attitude; and aggressiveness (attack rate). Worrying about winning/losing or how many points you need to score to win is stressful and adds unnecessary pressure and leads to overthinking. Focusing on the right things allows us to have clarity in our training and in competition.

It seems as though Ronda Rousey was so focused on winning her belt back that she lost focus on the mindset that got her to the top in the first. She also seemed to neglect working on areas of of her game that she needed to improve on during her training. In wrestling

Lastly, Ronda, like most athletes, seem to define themselves by their success or failures on the mat. At Wrestling Mindset we often talk about how you cannot define yourself through wrestling or wins/losses; instead, you must define yourself by your faith, morals, and ethical standards. Doing that is a two-step process. First, we must know what we stand for and believe in. Second, we must shift our focus away from winning/not losing to performance. If we give a 100% effort, leave everything on the mat, and try to score constantly, no one should be disappointed in you, including yourself. This is why after Jordan Burroughs lost in the Olympics, his first response was that even though he was disappointed in himself, he has a family and God that loves him – he doesn’t define himself through wrestling.

Actionable Advice
Remember that wrestling or how you compete doesn’t define you – YOU DO. Focus on the process of getting better each day instead of worrying about the outcomes.

Identify your top 5 priorities in your life, specifically things that you hold higher than wrestling. Examples include faith, honesty, school, family, etc. This is what defines who you are – not your record.