Our Fight: A Memoir

In this great book, Ronda Rousey narrates how she overcame a loss in her UFC career to eventually find true happiness in life. Ronda Rousey, one of the greatest UFC fighters in the world, paved the way for women to be able to fight in the UFC. After being the first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion and undefeated for three years, she finally experienced a loss. A loss, which is something inevitable for almost every athlete, is what made her stronger and eventually led her to find real happiness in life. This book is very interesting and inspirational, and I highly recommend it not only to athletes, but to anyone who feels they have suffered a loss in life.

As a casual fan of wrestling living with more intense fans, a book by Ronda Rousey had instant appeal. Our Fight is the second memoir by Rousey, following My Fight/Your Fight. In Our Fight she details her time fighting in UFC and wrestling in WWE. Rousey's sister, Maria Burns Ortiz, is her coauthor and between the two of them they write a detailed account of many bouts. I enjoyed the relationship aspect of her time in the WWE and wish there had been more behind the scenes revelations. Rousey appeared brutally honest about her own behavior, as well as the behavior of others. Although she was extremely successful in both arenas, I hope she finds even greater success as she moves forward as an author and creator.

Loved this book. Offers a totally different perspective on the world of MMA and WWE from a woman’s point of view. She has done so much for women in sport. A really great read

You know how there are people who know everything there is to know about baseball? I am that person, just for a different sport – Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).Ronda Rousey is one of my top-3 favorite MMA fighters, and this statement is coming from an MMA fan who has followed the “sport” since Mirco Crocop fought the Axe Murderer Silva in Pride over in Japan in early/mid 2000. From how I see her, Ronda Rousey is a (0) former UFC Champion who has (1) previously won an Olympic medal, (2) appeared in two major blockbuster movies (e.g., Expendables, Fast and Furious), (3) been invited to shine at major talk shows (e.g., Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel the jerk, Conan O'Brien, etc.), (4) landed in WWE after retirement, and (5) whenever I watch videos of her friends talk about her, they would often say ‘she has a heart of gold’ or ‘she is extremely loyal’. These accomplishments and accolades reveal that she is not only excellent - a word that is reserved for the best - but also has the “it” factor that makes her inspirational.Now, let me move on to her new, 2024 book, “Our Fight: A Memoir” by Ronda Rousey. I hate to say this, but this book is just underwhelming. It is composed of subpar writing, having a daily-diary like tone that often goes 'I went through this and felt that', and leaves me with almost no takeaways.Let me compare this book with Ronda’s old book.I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her first book, entitled “My Fight Your Fight.” Every chapter of this book contained a life lesson that can be applied to my life. For example, one of my favorite quotes from Ronda's first memior is “anything of value has to be earned.” When I was in a period of my life during which I was devoting my time and energy to my work/occupation, this quote really motivated me to be able to tell myself, "I have earned the success" or "I have worked hard enough to believe I deserve the success". Another quote that I like notes, “training was the focus of my every waking moment”, as Ronda reflects on her training for the Olympics as a teenager. As I resonated with this statement, it provided me with solace as I made sacrifices along my personal daily work/grind/journey. The thing is, someone who is working to keep the lights in their homes can resonate with this quote someway-somehow... For example, I can easily imagine a mother saying, 'my children were the focus of my every waking moment' just as easy as I could also imagine an IVY League university student saying 'performing well in my classes was the focus of my daily grind.' On top of this, Ronda's first book also had gems in that it opened my eyes into the life of an aspiring Olympian, a woman working through ‘being broke’ but remaining independent, someone loving her dog, and how she felt about dating odd guys/characters.In comparison, “Our Fight: A Memoir” contains none of these. Ronda is portrayed as helpless in this book. She is portrayed as a girl who is stuck in her own logic and as a complainer. She seems to say: I wanted to be perfect (by holding a perfect UFC record.) To hold a perfect UFC record, I could not afford even a jab to land (because my damaged chin). My self-image was destroyed after my loss (and it felt so bad I did not want to live anymore). So what is the deal? Basically, if she gets a hard jab, then her mental-state is set up for her to want to end everything? I really do not get it… and I cannot relate to it. This is coming from a fan who really likes Ronda, and still does.As I have said earlier, the book did not contain too many takeaways for me. For example, somewhere in the middle, the book notes: “a lot of people run from their limits. If you’re the champion, you are supposed to be chasing your limits with a vengeance!” Reading this, I asked myself, “WHAT? WHY?” You should be chasing to “overcome” your limits, not be chasing your limits – this is what I mean when I say this book is poorly written. There are a tone of these. Further, why shouldn’t someone who is trying to beat the champion hold more zeal/vengeance than the champion? I mean, the average reader is not a champion, so this statement does not apply to me in the first place, and if I am a contender, then I would want to overcome my limits as well!?If you are interested in her WWE career after her UFC loss, then perhaps you can pick up her new book. However, if you are looking for (what I deem to be) a more interesting read, then I would first recommend that you watch to “Q with Tom Power – UFC Champ Ronda Rousey” on www.youtube.com, then see if you’d be interested in buying her first book, “My Fight Your Fight.” Ronda has definitely given herself to the sport. After Ronda lost, people like Chael and Helwani did turn on her. Chael said, ‘Ronda knew aggression, but she was never a fighter.’ Ariel Helwani basically criticized Ronda, complaining on why Ronda could not be more like Dominick Cruz after her loss, as if Ronda owes everyone a gracious attitude after defeat and everyone should be processing losses in the same way. In this book, you are able to hear things from Ronda Rousey, herself (or of course her ghost writer), in a very honest and revealing manner. My problem is, it is just not as good as her first book.As I end, I haven’t written a book review like this in a while, but I hope this review is useful to some people.

So far it's good reading.

I have enjoyed her book. I read My Fight,Your Fight years ago.

Having known almost nothing about Ronda Rousey, except for her tenacity and unbeatable strength, I was interested in reading Our Fight. Ronda forever changed MMA, as the first female champion. Her success in the ring parlayed into spots in movies and public appearances. On November 15, 2015, a singular loss took Rousey from the top to the very bottom.From her multiple concussions to the abuse by her coaches, Rousey honestly recounts the struggles and challenges in her life. The pursuit of greatness is something that Ronda has had since her childhood, so coming to terms with her body breaking down has been hard.As a woman in a man's world, Ronda had to break through the glass ceiling and, in doing so, paved the way for other females in the sport. I was appalled at all she endured, though I was not particularly surprised as to how the champion was treated in the court of public opinion after her gold halo became tarnished in their eyes.I applaud Rousey for her strength and determination, but more for her stepping back and taking care of her own needs. It is never easy to accept help and to decide to put yourself first.Though I never watched MMA, I can appreciate how seriously Ronda Rousey took her pursuit for perfection. Our Fight was interesting to read and I would recommend it to readers who like sport memoirs or nonfiction books about strong females who face challenges head on and with dignity.

Great book

Good book

I thought this book was pretty good. She gets raw emotional feelings coming through the pages. I do like how she expressed her feelings about UFC and WWE however I do feel a lot of it was just “poor me Ronda” pettiness. I actually was a huge fan of her. This book although very interesting make me like her less.

I enjoyed this book. Ronda has overcome a lot of diversity in her life and has come out the other side with a positive outlook. The strength and determination she has displayed to overcome the challenges of traditional male-dominated sports & entertainment environments is admirable. She is a great role model and I hope she considers becoming a mentor to young people who may have aspirations of their own. Thanks for sharing Ronda; I wish you well and all the best for the future. Regards, Tim xx