Ronda Rousey makes huge SDCC red carpet announcement

Ronda Rousey walked the red carpet at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday to promote her new graphic novel, "Expecting the Unexpected" and launch its Kickstarter campaign. She showed up at the event in a pink floral dress, showing off her baby bump proudly.

While speaking on the panel, she confirmed that she was indeed expecting her baby No. 2 with husband Travis Browne. The former MMA star compared herself with the protagonist of her graphic novel, who is also pregnant in the story.

"Did anyone notice that I'm very pregnant right now? Yeah, I'm just as pregnant as 'Mom' is in the majority of the comic," Rousey joked. She and Browne welcomed their daughter, La'akea Makalapuaokalanipō, in Sep. 2021 after she took a break from WWE to start a family. The two have been married since 2017.

Later, Rousey shared in an Instagram post that she's having a girl and she's four months into the pregnancy. She also offered a sneak peek into the story of her novel, which was five years in the making.

"In the story, Mom and Hapa (me and @travisbrownemma obviously lol) are two wanted assassins with an unwanted pregnancy who discover giving life is harder than taking it."

Ronda Rousey credits Paul Heyman for idea, thanks Dave Bautista

In an interview with WrestleZone, Ronda Rousey revealed that she was inspired by WWE's Paul Heyman to write the story of "Expect the Unexpected." Heyman asked her a question - "What kind of movie do you want to star in?" - which made her think about potentially putting herself in a fictional world.

"But where I was in my life at the time, I was trying to get pregnant. And what ended up coming out in an 11-hour writing binge was a martial arts romantic comedy," she said. "It was kind of like a genre mash-up that I’ve never seen before. In trying to create for myself a part that no one could play better than me, I ended up writing something that no one could have written other than me."

Rousey has worked with former Editor-In-Chief of Marvel, Axel Alonso, and Eisner Award-winning artist, Mike Deodato Jr. on this project.

Speaking of Dave Bautista, who moderated Thursday's panel, Rousey expressed shock and gratitude.

"I’m like forever indebted to this man. We’ve met before and he’s always been so polite and respectful and a sweetheart, but he doesn’t owe me a damn thing. He’s so in demand and everywhere these days. I can’t believe that Drax [from Guardians of the Galaxy] is coming to my panel at Comic-Con when he’s literally a Marvel star. It’s very humbling, and I’m extremely grateful."

Rousey's graphic novel, presented by AWA Studios, has nearly raised its goal of $20,000 on Kickstarter at the time of writing this article. The deadline is on Aug. 28, 2024.