Jan 29, 2022; St. Louis, MO, USA; Ronda Rousey during the Royal Rumble The Dome at America's Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Ronda Rousey joined the Squared Circe Reddit page on Tuesday to take part in an “Ask Me Anything” session in an effort to promote the Kickstarter page for her first graphic novel.

The message board’s participants ultimately took the MMA legend and former pro wrestling star up on her offer — albeit not in the manner in which she likely imagined they would.

Rather than peppering Rousey with inquiries regarding her Hall of Fame UFC career or multiple stints in WWE, the Reddit posters inundated her with questions and comments about her beliefs about the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. For the uninitiated, the former UFC bantamweight champion posted a YouTube video in 2013 touting a conspiracy theory regarding the shooting, which killed 20 children and six staff members, referring to it as “extremely interesting” and “must-watch.”

Rousey later deleted the post, but seemingly defended her actions by writing, “I just figure asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you’re told.” Her manager also offered an explanation on her behalf.

Despite happening more than 11 years ago, many clearly remember Rousey’s comments on the subject. That was evident during Tuesday’s AMA, in which the Q&A session was flooded with reminders of her previous comments, most of which were upvoted to the top of the page.

“Considering 20 children were slaughtered and one was shot as many as 11 times, is it fair to say that you owe a much better public apology than the one you issued?” the top post on the page reads.

“In your graphic novel ‘EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED’ Will we see something unexpected like you apologizing to or acknowledging the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre where 20 children were ruthlessly gunned down?” another user wrote. “Talk about EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED! Can’t wait to read the book!”

“When you voiced Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat 11, did all of your past bad decisions regarding your views about Sandy Hook being staged cause you to deliver an incredibly uninspired performance or was it just because you weren’t right for the role to begin with?” another post reads.

Rousey seemingly ignored the Sandy Hook-related questions, which it’s hard to imagine she wasn’t aware of considering the abundance of them. She did, however, answer questions pertaining to pro wrestling, comic books and nerd culture, such as one asking her who her favorite Pokémon is (Mew).

Altogether, Rousey answered questions over the course of nearly two hours, never addressing her previous posts regarding Sandy Hook. Considering the viral nature of the AMA, it will be interesting to see if the 37-year-old — who isn’t often one to bite her tongue — will ultimately comment on the matter in the near future.

[Reddit]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.