Love & Chemistry

KICK-STARTER

“Female athletes are some of the most passionate, sensitive women I’ve met,” Rousey says. “They do this because they need an outlet.”

BIKINI TOP Caffe Swimwear PANTS Pleats Please Issey Miyake RIGHT SWEATSHIRT Norma Kamali GRAY SHORTS Clu Too BLACK SHORTS Capezio SHOES Feiyue Promenade, where a lot of shady characters hung out. I loved Frappuccinos, but I only got $5 a day for lunch. If I ate, that meant I didn’t have enough money for a Frappuccino. So we would go over to these kids and say, “I bet you $10 I could beat up any one of you.” There were always some guys who could use the money. We’d fight and I’d do something to get them to give up, and they’d give us $10 and we’d go get Frappuccinos.… That was, like, my side gig for a little while. CP I don’t think anyone would take that $10 today. RR Well, I don’t fight for Frappuccinos anymore, either. CP Do any fighting strategies carry over into daily life? RR The one that really sticks out in my mind comes from my mom. She’d always tell me that you have to be your best on your worst day, because what if the Olympics fall on a bad day? CP What else did you learn from her? A lot of girls aren’t brought up to fight. RR Well, my mom never forced us to do anything. I fight, but my three sisters don’t. What she really taught me was the value of giving up what you want now for what you want most. My sisters were taught that, too, and they carried it through the professions they decided to pursue. CP How do you wind down after a fight? RR I eat about 50 hot wings. I love hot wings. After my last fight, one of the UFC owners flew in a private chef from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro so that he could make me hot wings, because there are no hot wings in Rio! That’s how important they are to me. CP Those were some expensive hot wings. RR They were really good, though. CP Do you let other people eat them, too? RR The thing is, you’ve got to let me eat a couple before anyone else has any, because otherwise I’ll start eating faster. It’s a race to see who can eat the most. I’m so competitive, I even compete with hot wings. CP What’s downtime like for you? RR I’ll wake up, eat my little chia bowl, train. Then get a sandwich, go home and make out with my dog, watch TV shows about how the universe was made while playing Taichi Panda. If you have crazy, crazy days, doing nothing is such a luxury. CP Are your closest friends also athletes? RR Yeah, my three best girlfriends—our fans jokingly call us the four horsewomen. My best friend, Marina [Shafir], is also my roommate. I’ve gotten really close to Shayna [Baszler] and Jessamyn [Duke], too. I absolutely love them. I would go to war for those girls. CP Do you ever get nervous at press conferences, or on the red carpet? RR Fighting kind of dulls everything else. What’s the worst that can happen outside of the ring? If I’m shooting a movie or doing a press conference or walking a red carpet, the worst that can happen is that I’ll look stupid. That’s all. I’m not afraid to be embarrassed. CP That’s a good attitude. I’ll start keeping that in mind on Twitter. How do you