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Ronda Rousey Feels The Bern

by Alicia Lu

If anyone knows a thing or two about winning, it's Ronda Rousey — but she's not voting for Donald Trump to win. In an interview with Maxim magazine, the undefeated UFC women's bantamweight champion revealed who she would back, and he couldn't be further from Trump. Ronda Rousey is supporting Bernie Sanders for president. That's right, Rousey clearly feels the Bern, and she explained why exactly. It makes sense that the fiercest female fighter in the world is aligning herself with a candidate who's proven himself to be a staunch feminist, but how does she feel about Hillary Clinton? Apparently, for Rousey, it's Bernie or nothing.

Maxim recently sat down with Rousey ahead of her fight with boxing champion Holly Holm to discuss a topic she normally does not get asked about: politics. When asked who she's supporting in the 2016 presidential election, Rousey told the magazine:

I’m voting for Bernie Sanders.

Boom. The progressive Democrat officially has the biggest badass in the world in his corner. Clinton's team is probably scrambling as I type this to somehow compensate for this formidable endorsement. And why is she supporting the so-called socialist?

Because he doesn’t take any corporate money.

It's true: Sanders is the only major candidate who does not accept corporate money to fuel his campaign (other than Trump, but that's beside the point), relying instead on small donations. Rousey went on to say:

I don’t think politicians should be allowed to take money for their campaigns from outside interests.
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It's a rare glimpse into the fighter's political views. So besides having the deadliest arm bar in the UFC, Rousey is also an advocate for keeping big corporations out of politics. Maybe she should run in 2020, on a platform against gender disparity and political corruption — you know, pick up where Sanders left off.

Maxim went on to ask who Rousey would vote for in the general election if Sanders fails to secure the nomination, and instead of going with the obvious alternative, Clinton, Rousey has other plans. She told the publication:

If he doesn’t win against Hillary, then I’ll probably vote for a third party again. To be honest, in 2012 I was against both candidates and so I just picked any third party because I thought if more people voted for third parties then they’d have to take third parties seriously.
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When it comes to politics, Rousey is not exactly a fan of the two-party system, or maybe she just has a penchant for pulling for the underdogs (Sanders technically still qualifies as one). If you need proof, just look at her voting record in 2012.

I voted for Roseanne last time. Mostly I went in to vote for all the state and local things. I was so unimpressed with the whole presidential campaign that I picked whatever third party I saw, and I saw Roseanne and thought, 'That’s awesome.'

Hopefully, it won't come down to that, though. Rousey is really feeling the Bern.

But I’m really pulling for Sanders this time. I hope it works out.

While it's still too early to make accurate predictions about who will win the primary, one thing is for sure: Rousey is not voting for Trump, no matter what he might think.