Ronda Rousey kept a promise Friday night in Camp Lejeune, N.C. The journey leading to her appearance at the Marine Corps Ball is a classic story of an athlete’s evolution — as person and performer — in the public eye.

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Entering the world of fame and celebrity is a profound challenge for athletes in many ways.

Reaching a newfound level of achievement puts one squarely in the public spotlight. This progression creates a new menu of choices.

Some of these choices are matters of temptation — do you indulge in your newfound fame and enjoy the spoils of a different life? Certainly, a healthy part of handling fame is found in celebrating success, in taking the time to consciously enjoy the journey. However, overindulgence is a central pitfall for newly-minted celebrity athletes. Too much enjoyment can derail the tunnel-vision focus which made a meteoric rise possible in the first place.

Other new choices for star athletes concern training — how much work in between competitions is necessary to maintain performance while not overworking the body? An athlete in a position of dramatically heightened visibility must make a fundamental adjustment to the new psychological challenges of the situation. Being the hunted, not the hunter, requires a different kind of makeup, much as being a closer in baseball demands a competitive mentality which is different from the one-batter matchup specialist or the long reliever.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is facing all these challenges and more. To put a finer point on it, many observers felt that an excessive immersion in (and relishing of) celebrity detracted from her focus and preparation heading into her November 15 title defense against Holly Holm. That bout did not end well, and in the weeks since that devastating defeat, Rousey has kept a very low profile.

It was therefore a topic of discussion over the past few months, but especially after her defeat: Would Rousey, who has a boyfriend, take the time to make good on a promise she made back in September?

Marine Lance Cpl. Jarrod Haschert posted a message to his Facebook page, asking Rousey if she would attend the 2015 Marine Corps Ball as his date. The video went viral, and Rousey caught many by surprise when she said she’d go. Understandably, the fact that Rousey had a boyfriend caused Haschert to wonder if Rousey would live up to her initial promise. The stinging loss to Holm offered yet another plot complication. Rousey could have said — with perfect justification — that losing a bout necessitated both recovery time and the need to stay out of the public eye, in order to bring about a renewed focus which will enable her to regain the championship she lost a month ago.

This was and is the kind of decision a high-profile athlete must make many times over the course of a career. Sometimes, saying “no” is the more responsible course.

Clearly, though, Rousey felt that honoring this promise was important. She attended the ball as Haschert’s date.

It wouldn’t have been shocking or unanticipated had Rousey made a different decision. Who knows how well she’ll progress in her attempt to recapture championship form? This much is clear: She obviously feels she can make public commitments outside the realm of training. If she’s still figuring out how to handle the strain of competition, she feels comfortable enough to make a public appearance in order to make another person happy.

The temptation will be easy to link this decision to future results in Ronda Rousey’s fighting career. Regardless of that angle, however, say this much: Rousey took this commitment seriously.

About Matt Zemek

Editor,
@TrojansWire
| CFB writer since 2001 |