Opinion: The Overexposure of Ronda Rousey

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Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

This isn’t Ronda Rousey’s fault.

As a matter of fact, the seamless way in which the UFC champ has handled her myriad media obligations only adds to her allure. However, we are treading dangerously close to a ferocious backlash, and honestly, it isn’t fair.

Rousey’s ascent has been swift and devastating. The comparisons to Mike Tyson are plausible simply because she has been a wrecking ball of charisma, technique and dominance. She’s fascinating to watch and easily the biggest star the UFC has in their possession. But there is a time where you have to pull back the reins on Rousey simply to let the audience breathe and miss her a little bit. Hopefully, after what many expect to be a swift dismantling of Holly Holm at UFC 193, Rousey can vanish for a little while. It might be the best thing for her.

It’s hard to tell the UFC or Rousey not to strike while the iron is hot, because you never know when these opportunities will vanish. The window for a fighter is small, so taking advantage of these opportunities makes perfect sense for one currently transcending the sport. However, the media can be a devilish group of vultures who pick at the bones of their subjects. With so much ground already covered on Rousey’s life and career, all that’s left to do is search for skeletons in her closet.

In the weeks approaching UFC 193, the groans on social media have grown louder and more frequent. You simply cannot avoid seeing and hearing about Rousey. Interestingly, the narrative is slowly shifting away from her positive aspects to some darker areas. Media outlets can only tell the same stories so many times before the audience wants and needs something more. Unfortunately, our culture often feeds off negativity.

It’s something that Rousey can hardly control. From her mother’s outbursts about her coach to her relationship with Travis Browne, windows are opening for bloggers and journalists to climb through in an attempt to dig up as much dirt as possible. To her credit, Rousey has done well fending off advances from the media to try and spin her life into something far more dramatic than it is in an effort to generate traffic. Mountains are being made out of molehills and it won’t stop anytime soon.

There isn’t much left to talk about with her upcoming fight against Holm. The boxer is such a massive underdog that every preview of the event goes into hyperbole hyperdrive in an effort to create some form of doubt that Rousey may actually be facing her toughest test to date. But nobody believes that.

Instead, we are subjected to the “ditch the lube” story, Rousey hanging up on a recent conference call when asked about her “controversial” relationship with Browne, and her mother’s unfiltered comments. Then, there are the stories about Edmond Tarverdyan’s bankruptcy, Miesha Tate suggesting she could retire if changes aren’t made, and Rousey’s support of Bernie Sanders. And you know what? Every single one of these topics have made certain groups of people unhappy with Rousey.

It’s silly that Rousey should be blamed for just about anything to which she is remotely attached. If she shows up at a Dallas Cowboys game and they get blown out, you best believe Rousey will be cited as a “distraction.” If lube sales plummet, it will be Ronda’s fault.

What Rousey needs is a break. Meanwhile, the rest of the women’s bantamweight division can attempt to get itself in order and create a contender who is a legitimate threat to the champ’s rampage through the division.

The outlier stories will never go away, and as much as Rousey would hope it happens, nobody is going to respect her privacy. But maybe we need to miss Rousey a little bit. That doesn’t mean that she has to go away completely, but maybe a hiatus until UFC 200 might be in order.

We aren’t a culture of celebrations over the long term. Eventually, we need something to tear down about something we love. Rousey has been the darling of MMA, but now it appears people are growing weary of the very sight of her. The harsh truth is that we will love you until we hate you, and Rousey doesn’t deserve that.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.