By now we’ve all heard Holms and Ronda Rousey talk about UFC 193 but now we get a look at the event from the perspective of Ronda’s sister, Maria Burns Ortiz.
There was Australia, where we expected Ronda to win. Just like we always do. Just like we always will. But she didn’t. I haven’t rewatched it. I haven’t read about it. I won’t. I don’t see a point in reliving the moment when a part of my loved one died, when I saw someone I cared about have her soul crushed. I saw how horrible people can be to someone they don’t even know, which made me even more appreciative when I saw how wonderfully Ronda’s friends and family treated her. Those are the people that matter.
The world watched Ronda fall, but I have had the opportunity to watch her get back up. To be proud of her and happy for her when she wins, and to be proud of her and concerned for her when she loses. To tell her that I loved her just as much in the moments after the fight as I had in the moments before. To put my arm around her and try to protect her. To push aside the negativity. To help her get back up. Not just in the past few weeks but in the past 28 years.
Maria spoke specifically about the hate shown towards Ronda after the loss.
I hear things, third-party. I hear that people say insensitive, hateful, disgusting things about my sister—and my mother—and I don’t try to make sense of it, because you can’t. There’s something very strange, though, when the world seems to think they know someone—this idea that society suddenly owns a right to build someone up or tear them down because they are a public figure. To watch that happen to someone you love is enough to drive you insane—unless you tune it out, which I do.
Occasionally I wonder how people could say such awful things about someone they don’t even know, someone they’ve never met. I attribute it to the fact that their mothers probably didn’t love them enough, and then I briefly curse out the part of the Internet that allows people to hide behind anonymity as they let out the worst parts of themselves.
Sometimes, all you can do is think, “What the fuck is wrong with you people?”
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