Edith Bosch is the one of a few women who can say they beat Ronda Rousey.
Bosch, a judoka from the Netherlands, crushed Rousey’s Olympic dream in 2008 by defeating her in the quarterfinals.
Bosch said that her strategy going into the match was about viewing Rousey as an objective obstacle, one that needed to be conquered in order to get what she wanted.
“I had short hair, I was looking brutal,” Bosch said in an interview with MMAjunkie. “My attitude and my mindset was, ‘You are in my way, I am going to kill you, because I want to get a medal.’ ”
Bosch’s strategy worked as she bested ‘Rowdy’ in "golden score" which is Judo’s version of sudden death overtime. She left Beijing with a silver medal, Rousey eventually left with a bronze.
“That was my childhood dream and I spent my whole life in pursuit of (gold),” said Rousey, 28. “I had to give that up and come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t for me. I have always been heartbroken from that.”
Rousey claimed to never really get over the loss and in her autobiography she portrayed Bosch as her rival, even saying that the Dutch judoka dislocated her elbow twice with illegal moves.
Of course Bosch still revels in the fact that she is the last person to beat one of the biggest stars on the planet, especially because she didn’t like the way Rousey handled herself.
“Everything starts with the weigh in,” Bosch said, when asked what made Rousey unpopular among her fellow judokas. “Everybody is always silent and quiet because a lot of people have to lose weight. When she got into the weigh-in room she was … talking loud and all busy, and wearing pajamas. I always looked at her and I wondered, ‘Okay, for her (the fight) already starts here.’
“On the mat she is a (expletive),” Bosch continued. “But you have to be. I was too. We didn’t talk.”
Bosch also said that she has no plans on ever fighting Rousey again, although…
“I would really love to punch her though,” Bosch said.