You don’t have to be Nostradamus to see into our future and know Halloween is going to be dominated by a couple of costumes this year. There will be armies of Khaleesis and Jon Snows, a multiverse worth of Ricks from Rick & Morty, and more than a few Ronda Rouseys. This Spanish-language UFC promo video plays on that, showing a bunch of kids failing to get scares in their costumes and then running in fear when they encounter a wild Rousey.
“Horrifying is not being able to watch her,” the video says, pushing Ronda’s title fight with Holly Holm on November 14. It’s interesting that they’ve made this ad for the Latino markets. They’ve always been huge boxing fans, and the UFC has been trying to convert them to MMA for years with former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez. But now they may see Rousey as another option because she, too, is Latina.
Really? Really. Here she is talking about it:
“When I was younger, people wouldn’t believe I was half-Venezuelan. I don’t look like it. I look like my dad. I never really got any cultural recognition as a kid. It’s kind of a shame that people treat you how you look like. It feels great [now], especially my mom and her whole side of the family is super excited about it now. I have a lot of cousins and stuff still in Venezuela. It’s really nice to have a venue to be able to regain a connection with my roots.”
In another interview, Ronda said, “In America, you are what you look like almost because that’s how people treat you. And when I was younger and we went to Catholic school, that was, like, 99.9 percent Latino. I was really outcast there.”
If this ad is any indication, it looks like the UFC is working on getting the word out there.