“My only fear is fear of failure. I want to win more than any of those other girls possibly could. I’m so afraid of failing that I go into the gym and work harder than them every single day. There is no way they could want to win as a contender as much as I want to win as champion and I feel that fear is actually an advantage I have… The thing that has always set me apart is that I want it more and I still think that’s true. Nobody needs me outside of there. That’s where I’m needed. People need me to win and be the champion, so therefore I need to win and be the champion. All those other girls who walk in and try to fight me are needed elsewhere and they don’t forget that. They walk in knowing they have to get out of there one way or another and I walk in there knowing I’m only walking out one way and that is the winner.”
-Ronda Rousey talks to Duane Finley for SI.com about her drive to remain Champion, and why no challenger can match it.
Penick’s Analysis: Rousey’s competitiveness is a major key in her remaining where she’s at. No matter the additional things she’s put on herself, be it movies, TV appearances, or anything else, takes away from the fact that she puts the effort in to remain in her position. She has her faults, she has her flaws, but it cannot be said that she lacks the ethic to put in as much work as is necessary to keep herself the best possible version of who she is as a fighter. That best version happens to be above and beyond the rest of the competition, leaving her in place as the best we’ve seen to date. She clearly plans to keep that up for as long as she’s fighting, and until someone can prove otherwise, there’s been no reason shown to doubt her.
[Photo (c) Jayne Kamin-Oncea via USA Today Sports]
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