What disorder did Ronda Rousey have growing up?

Ronda Rousey is an Ironwoman not only in WWE but in all of combat sports. The Baddest Woman on the Planet broke barriers and conquered Championships in whichever ring she stepped inside. While many fans may feel Rousey is unbreakable and made of steel, the former UFC Champion has had struggles of her own.

Growing up, Rousey suffered from a neurological speech disorder called Apraxia. A person with this disorder finds it difficult to form intelligent sentences for the first six years of their life. Her family initially thought she had a hearing problem and tested her for it, however, a speech pathologist helped in finding her disorder.

Laura Smith met Ronda Rousey for her autobiography launch in 2015. Smith revealed that she read a story on Rousey and detected her disorder as the same thing happened to her daughter. The cause of this disorder is because Rousey was born with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. In an interview with ABC, Rousey thanked Smith for helping her out.

"I actually ended up reading through the whole thing that night and was like, ‘Oh my God, this is all exactly it. This is exactly what it was,’” Rousey said. “I didn’t know it was actually apraxia until that moment. She really taught me a lot about myself that day and I can’t thank her enough for it."

Despite this, Rousey has made herself one of the most successful women in combat sports and sports entertainment. She has also taken steps to raise awareness about the condition in the aim of helping others.

Well-known combat sports journalist wants to manage Ronda Rousey

While there is no doubt about the physicality and in-ring ability of Ronda Rousey, her talking game is certainly something that needs a lot of work. Speaking on The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani claimed he would like to manage The Baddest Woman on the Planet and cut promos on her behalf.

“I could have and could help Ronda Rousey. Yep, yep. Can’t beat that. Not great on the mic, not believable, little too stiff,” Helwani said. “Have me, the voice of the voiceless, the voice of MMA, the voice of combat sports, come out there and cut promos on her behalf. That’s what I wanna do. I don’t wanna cut promos on my behalf, I wanna cut promos on other people’s behalf."

Ronda Rousey is currently aligned with real-life best friend Shayna Baszler. Both women have been together for a few weeks on WWE TV, decimating their competition backstage. A good manager is essential to help a superstar rise to the top especially if a particular wrestler is not good on the mic. The best example for this is Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman.