Ronda Rousey on Fashion, Acting & Kicking Butt

Photography by Ryan Pfluger 

Styling by Christopher Kim

Grooming by Sacha Harford

Ronda Rousey has made a career out of hurting people. Physically, anyway (and only in the ring). The Judo Olympic medalist and undefeated MMA champion has a cultivated a reputation as both a formidable and ruthless fighter. Her signature move is an arm bar, a painful grappling technique designed to hyperextend an opponent’s elbow. At her most recent match, on February 28th of this year, Rousey was so merciless that her opponent, Cat Zingano, tapped out in submission after just just 14 seconds. It was the shortest fight in UFC history.

So I’m surprised, when I hop on the phone with her, to hear a far from intimidating voice come out of Rousey. She is bubbly, candid, approachable, girlie even. She greets me with a friendly “what’s up!” and talks a mile a minute. Recently, thanks to supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters likeFurious 7 and the upcoming Entourage, plus a book tour for her just-released memoir My Fight/Your Fight, she’s also been devoting a surprising amount of time to getting dolled up for appearances and shoots, like this one for Yahoo Style.

“It’s kind of cool that fashion is becoming a part [of my career],” says Rousey, who describes her personal style as “ifJoan Jett lived in Venice Beach and loved surfing. And occasionally had to do a red carpet.” It is, however, the last thing she saw coming. “When I was in high school, I was so scared to try to dress nice because I thought if I tried something and it didn’t look good, it was worse than not trying at all,” she says.

Confidence, when it comes to her appearance, has been a long road for Rousey, who was bullied growing up. “Back then, if you did judo, people thought you were a dork,” she says. Kids made fun of her for being into the sport and teased her about her “big arms” (which sounds, to this writer, like an unwise thing to do—unless you’re looking for a black-eye). Rousey, though, swears she never used her considerable judo skills to fight back. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, if someone tried to hit me I would have,” she says. “But it was just verbal so, what can you do? I learned to deal with it.”

Photography by Ryan Pfluger for Yahoo Style

Besides the taunts, Rousey suffered from an eating disorder during most of her professional Judo career in an effort to make weight. “Being full was something I really had an issue with,” she says. “It didn’t feel right to be full.” So she didn’t eat. It was an unexpected decision that finally prompted her recovery. “I went vegan for eight months,” she says. “And when I went vegan I told myself I was allowed to eat as much as I wanted. I ate a lot and I learned to feel comfortable being full. When being full stopped being a novelty, that’s when my day stopped revolving around food.” Of course, Rousey still has to watch what she eats when she trains; she’s a strong proponent of the Dolce Diet, which advocates eating lots of greens and lean meat. As for how she stays energized during her grueling training hours, Rousey says, “I drink a lot of coffee. I eat a lot of food. And I drink a gallon or two of water.”

Like most of us, Rousey learned to feel more confident as she got older. Part of that meant finding her personal style. “When I was younger, I was dressing for everyone else,” she says. “Now, I see it as a way of self expression.” It’s an invaluable tool for Rousey, who didn’t speak her first sentence until she was six, due to slight brain damage sustained from a complicated birth. “The struggle to communicate has been something I’ve been dealing with my whole life,” she says. “Through fashion I’ve found another way to communicate without actually speaking.” It’s also given her a new creative outlet: “I used to spend my time trying to create the best Coldstone combination, now I’m going to hair and makeup and coming up with new looks.”

Rousey’s new book is proof she’s been fighting both in and out of the ring for pretty much her entire life. “My Fight/Your Fight isn’t exactly a memoir or a self-help book,” says Rousey. “It’s more like all the lessons I’ve learned from fighting, which have helped me overcome obstacles, or understand them better.” Her biggest lesson? “Probably that all of the absolute best things of my life have resulted from the most devastating,” she says.

As for her burgeoning Hollywood career, Rousey’s already set a lofty goal: “I’d love to play a grown-up B.B. in Kill Bill 3 and defend my mama Uma,” she says. Someone call Quentin Tarantino.

Mema: