Mike Tyson wants Ronda Rousey to know that losing is part of being human

Ever since Holly Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey, things have changed for both women. For Holm, she’s now where Rousey used to be, and soon she’ll be defending her title against Miesha Tate at UFC 197. However, we haven’t seen much of Rousey, aside from her December appearance at a Marine ball. Mike Tyson appeared on Conan and O’Brien asked him what kind of advice he would give Rousey, in terms of returning to the public eye after her defeat.

Conan: “Ronda Rousey was knocked out recently. People thought that she ... could not be defeated. You’d been through the same experience before where people were just like, ‘No one’s ever going to beat Mike Tyson,’ and then you lose to Buster Douglas. Do you have advice for her? ‘Cause she, you know, she’s not out there a lot, she’s not communicating a lot, she’s been through a huge upset. What would you tell her?”

Tyson: “She has to understand we’re in the hurt business. And I don’t care if you’re the king of the hurt business, we’re in the business where we get hurt. And she’s just gotta be seen -- come out the house, whatever. I’ve seen she’s been around. Show your face, you’re human.”

In an almost prophetic metaphor, Tyson went on to compare the Rousey-Holm fight to David and Goliath, saying that Holm will never “be out of Ronda’s shadow,” much like David never got out of Goliath’s shadow after defeating him. To him, that’s not a bad thing, since the win gave Holm more recognition than all her other fights -- a “meal ticket,” as Tyson puts it.

Rousey will ultimately be fine. She’ll be hosting Saturday Night Live this Saturday, which is a step forward in her post-loss life. It remains to be seen how far Holm’s fame will go, but hopefully she’s more prepared than the time she fumbled her meeting with Beyonce.