Ronda Rousey claims ex-boyfriend Brendan Schaub ‘thrived on playing mind games’ during their relationship

Ronda Rousey loved seeing Travis Browne pummel her ex-boyfriend into retirement.

Before the former bantamweight women’s world champion walked away from mixed martial arts and married Browne, Rousey spent some time in a relationship with another former UFC heavyweight contender — Brendan Schaub.

While Rousey has stayed mostly tight-lipped about her time with Schaub, he has been fairly open about the past relationship, speaking about it on more than one occasion via his plethora of podcasts. However, Rousey recently offered some insight into the situation via her new book, Our Fight: A Memoir.

In it, Rousey reveals some of the struggles she faced while dating Schaub. Though she doesn’t name him specifically, ‘Rowdy’ provides enough details for fight fans to quickly identify who she’s talking bout.

“Travis had been training with us for a while when it was announced that his first fight as an official member of our team would be against my ex-boyfriend,” Rousey wrote. “My ex thrived on playing f*cked-up mind games with me when I had a fight coming up and insisted we hide that we were dating so he wouldn’t be labeled ‘Ronda Rousey’s Boyfriend.’

“As Travis headed into the match up, I pretended it wasn’t personal,” she continued. “I tried not to be overly involved or emotional. This wasn’t my fight. I was hoping he would win, but I was in training camp, so I didn’t really think too much more about it. That is until it was on live TV, and I lost my goddamn mind. Screaming at the top of my lungs, ‘Get him, Travis!’ while punching the arm of the person on the couch next to me.”

Ronda Rousey basks in seeing her ex-boyfriend getting beaten down

Travis Browne fought six more times following his first-round knockout of Brendan Schaub. He went 1-5, suffering finishes against Cain Velasquez, Derrick Lewis, and Aleksei Oleinik. Overall, Browne went 18-7-1 in his MMA career.

Schaub ultimately retired from the sport a year after his loss to Browne, closing out his career with a 10-5 record.

“When Travis knocked him out at the end of the first round, I didn’t think it could get any more gratifying,” Rousey said. “My ex covered up on the ground while Travis pounded away on him. The referee waved the match over. Then Travis, towering over the crumpled, semi-conscious body of my ex, leaned down and whispered something in his ear. His words were indiscernible to the camera, but I swore I could hear Travis’ voice saying, ‘Ronda says f*ck you.’”