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Ronda Rousey on new IJF Rule: ‘Bullsh*t Politics is Going to Destroy Judo’

Ronda Rousey on new IJF Rule: ‘Bullsh*t Politics is Going to Destroy Judo’

 

 

After BJJEE.com reported the news that the International Judo Federation (IJF) prohibited ranked Judokas from competing in other combat sports, UFC champion and Olympic Judo bronze medalist, Ronda Rousey reacted on her twitter.

 

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Ronda in an interview with BloodyElbow.com back in February 2012, was outspoken about politics killing Judo and how USA Judo and how JF don’t give back to to champion judokas:

 

“Everyone talks about how awesome the Olympics are, but you know what? After the Olympics they give you ten grand a handshake. And you know what, it costs way more than ten grand to get there. The Olympics didn’t give a damn about me after I was done. And I gotta do what I gotta do to make a living. If I gotta pose for some magazines…I’m not gonna show my nipples or asshole or anything like that but if I gotta walk around at the beach in a bikini, why not let someone take a picture of me and put it in a magazine?

All these companies make millions and millions of dollars to put the Olympic rings as like a logo. I walked into 24 hour fitness the other day. They’re a multi-million dollar sponsor of the Olympic games. And they have all these Olympic rings all over the place. They know I’m an Olympic medalist. They know I’m an Olympian. They will not let me in there without paying. I have to pay to go into 24 hour fitness. I have to buy every single Gatorade bottle. That money does not go to the athletes. That money goes into a lot of really corrupt national governing bodies that bounce that money around, they give it to all their friends, and almost none of that money makes it to the athletes. USA Judo is the most corrupt organizations ever, and they hated me because I was not afraid to say it, and they always gave me as little funding as possible.

At the 2007 worlds they sent more officials and more people from their organization, and then they made most of the athletes pay for themselves to go. They only sponsorerd three athletes to go, and they sent like eleven different people. And I remember at the Pan Am games, or Pan-Am champsionships in wherever we were at, a bunch of the athletes had to pay for themselves to go and then they flew some PR girl at the last minute. Thousands of dollars just to show up and hang around. And they’re sending all their people first class, and they’re spending all this, you look at their budget and they’re spending thousands of dollars on entertainment for each other. All the people that work for this organization are sitting in these amazing hotels, and the athletes, I’m sitting in a hut. A chalet in the middle of Belgium.

All that money and none of it goes to the athletes, and the second that you’re done fighting they just give you a kick in the ass out the door. There’s nothing set in place to help the athletes after they’re done. What are you doing while you’re training your whole life? You’re not getting as much education as you could. You’re not getting as much work experience as you could. And so what happens after the Olympics Is that you have all these athletes that have no work experience, no education, and they have no health. And it’s all bullshit.

And that’s why I’m like screw everyone’s idea of ‘oh what sports are supposed to be like’. I did what sports were supposed to be like, and I was living in my car. So you know what, fine. I’m gonna talk a bunch of shit. I’m gonna pose in a couple of pictures. And I’m gonna break a couple of girl’s arms, and I’m not gonna feel the least bit sorry about it because you know what? At least I can feed my dog.”