Title: My Fight Your Fight
Author: Ronda Rousey
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, Memoirs, Sport
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2015

As a Martial Arts practitioner, I already knew who Ronda Rousey was – I mean, you can’t really follow Women’s UFC without knowing who the woman is. But, I didn’t really know much beyond she was awesome. Actually, reading this kind of put me to shame in my knowledge for the birth of Women’s UFC (of which I really enjoy following). For starters, although I knew Rousey was a pioneer in the sport, but I didn’t realise that she was literally the first woman to fight on UFC Card. It was really fun reading about this while I actually watched those first fights that Rousey talks about. And then constantly sharing the extra bits of information with my poor partner who is not interested.

I always love reading a good memoir, partly because it’s just interesting how other people live and function. But, it also helps to solidify some of my understanding of myself. In the case of Rousey’s story, it really just solidified for me that I’m not a competitor. The dedication and commitment alone is pretty intense, but also that unwillingness to lose. I just… don’t care if I win or lose a match, as long as my opponent finds me interesting. But Rousey’s dedication and literal inability to lose is just astounding. It speaks so highly of her commitment, but also shows just how driven you really have to be to rise to the top like this.

Before each chapter of My Fight / Your Fight started, there is a bit of a quote from Rousey that kind of highlights the theme and the topic that is about to be uncovered. I really liked this. It was a way to give context, but also provide an extra snippet from her life that otherwise wouldn’t have fit into the overall chapter arc. It was a great way to set the tone and start you off in the right head space for each snippet of her life that she was about to impart. Some of these small chunks were actually my favourite parts of the whole memoir. They gave a great insight into some of the daily life and struggles of a Pro MMA fighter. And just into Rousey’s life and thought process as a general.

I absolutely devoured My Fight / Your Fight, not only was it subject matter that I am intensely passionate about (and live daily to a degree), but it was also just a really interesting and well written memoir. There is a cost to being at the pinnacle of your sport, and Rousey does not shy away from this. Rather, she fully embraces that there are many sacrifices you have to make. And she’s willingly made them. But, even more powerfully, she’s shared those sacrifices and challenges in her writing, showing us the dedication and commitment it takes to be a trail blazer in Women’s Sports and MMA.

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Image source: Penguin Books