WHEN the mighty fall it’s to be expected that the worst of their enemies will be sat in the front row, primed and ready to stick the boot in (plus a few extra sharp digs to the ribs for good measure).

I tread carefully here, but is it because Rousey is a woman?

When Ronda Rousey, UFC's undefeated cover girl and the highest paid MMA fighter in the world, lost her title in a savage battle with Holly Holm over the weekend, many took pleasure in her defeat.

Holm, the underdog, was rightfully praised for a lethal kick to the head that ended Rousey's unbeaten run, while members of Ronda Rousey’s lengthy shit-list were extremely vocal.

Donald Trump waded in on Twitter: 'Glad to see that @RondaRousey lost her championship fight last night. Was soundly beaten - not a nice person!'

'THATS WHAT YOU GET FOR NOT TOUCHING GLOVES!' – Lady Gaga

To add insult to injury, Rousey's arch-nemesis, undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather, took a patronising swip, offering to help Rousey with her boxing.

Rousey now has to relive the blow, over and over again, as internet trolls and dab-hands produce myriad memes and gifs and spread them across the web. She's also found former fans hopping off the Rousey bandwagon, now relishing in the public mocking. 

One post-fight article reads: 'Ronda Rousey Pays For Her Arrogance'. 

True, Rousey has always been an arrogant one. She's a gloater, feels no shame in boasting, a mean shit-talker and to add insult to injury, very good looking - the public don't take well to that sort of over-confidence. And how's the saying go - talk smack and get smacked down?

So should we bask in her defeat? Did she have it coming? Do fans only like arrogance when it's backed up with 'undefeated titles'?

Perhaps we should blame society's love of the self-deprecator, the underdog. We love a winner who's a loser, just look at X Factor - we rarely vote for the obvious winner and instead go for the warbly-wailer with a sob story and a sweet disposition.

 

Yet arrogance and an inflated egos come part and parcel with some of the world’s greatest sportsmen and popular characters - it makes good TV. 

Muhammad Ali wouldn't be such a legend if he hadn't compared himself to butterflies and bee stings.

Ask Cristiano Ronaldo who is the world's best football player in the world and, of course, he'd say himself, not Lionel Messi. 

And good ol’ Kanye West, arrogant as he is, if we loved ourselves the way Kanye loves himself, how much farther would we succeed?

Rousey is no different in that respect. So why are we punishing Rousey for believing that she could remain undefeated - or as she put it, 'fight everyone in my division with one hand behind my back?' Frankly, you'd be mad to enter the UFC ring with any less confidence. In which case, is the backlash directed at Rousey overly vicious.

 

I tread carefully here, but is it because Rousey is a woman?

Serena Williams has faced similar negativity for her so-called arrogance. 

After 21 Grand Slam wins and a fifth Wimbledon title, Williams faced a queue of competitors eager to knock her off her perch at this year's tournament, indeed, the global sense of diappointment was palpable when Williams narrowly beat young British tennis star Heather Watson.

Williams didn't, of course, and danced all over Court No.1 with her trophy. Folk didn't like that either. Arrogance, they say, is unbecoming, particularly, they said, as a woman. One blogger wrote, 'Serena has an enourmous talent but her lack of humbleness and sportsmanship makes her a pathetic human being.'

I'd dare you to say the same to Mike Tyson. 

Of course, good sportsmanship means to play in a passionate and fair manner; swap shirts at the end, shake hands and touch gloves. Always be a gracious loser and an even more gracious winner. But the great, the truly great, aren't like the rest of us, they're obsessed with their craft and yes, themselves. 

Rousey is gobbling down humble pie right now - no bad thing. Sometimes we’re supposed to experience these harsh crashes back to earth to become better individuals. Still, I won’t punish Ronda Rousey for walking into that ring as a winner and for telling us all so - despite the result.

She didn't bag all those previous titles for being shy and retiring and she better not start now.

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