The new year is upon us, and it is a time for optimism and looking forward! That’s how many like to see it, but maybe not former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Since losing her belt to Holly Holm in November, she’s virtually disappeared from social media, with only six updates to her formerly bustling Instagram.
One post links to an ESPN feature that described Ronda as “heartbroken” and “falling apart.” A picture of Ronda smiling at the Marine Corps Ball had a caption thanking Lance Cpl. Jarrod Haschert for “putting a smile on my face again.” And now, in her first Instagram of 2016, Ronda has put up a quote from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: “I was adored once, too.”
A not-so-subtle jab at all the fans who have turned on her since the loss? More unhealthy wallowing in defeat? At the very least, Ronda seems self-aware enough of the implications of this Instagram post to tag it #quotephase. We assume this means she’s onto a new phase in processing her loss. The first phase is sadness. Then there’s anger. Then angsty Instagram quotes. Hopefully for Ronda, the next phase is true acceptance, followed by the #backtotraining phase. And then the #rematch phase and #championonceagain phase?
Anything is possible in 2016 with the right outlook!
“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” – William Shakespeare
