Rousey: 'I did a whole lot of crying' after UFC defeats

Ronda Rousey broke her UFC-related silence Wednesday night.

Rousey's MMA career started 12-0, but consecutive losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes in 2015 and 2016, respectively, dropped her to 12-2 before she switched over to the WWE.

She says she was never able to come to terms with the losing.

"I did a whole lot of crying, isolating myself, (husband Travis Browne) held me and let me cry and it lasted two years," Rousey said, according to Martin Rogers of MMA Junkie. "I couldn’t have done it alone. There’s a lot of things you have to remember. Every missed opportunity is a blessing in disguise."

Rousey faced criticism for her handling of each defeat, as she shut herself away in the immediate aftermath and stayed out of the spotlight until signing a contract with the WWE.

She pointed to some tough love from her parents for forming that mentality.

"My parents expected me to be special, so I expected to be special," Rousey said. "I was just trying to create the job I wanted, and I wouldn’t have the audacity to do that if my mom didn’t tell me I could.

"But one thing my mother never taught me was how to lose. She never wanted me to entertain it as a possibility. She'd say: 'Let it suck. It deserves to suck.'"