Ronda Rousey throws a combination at coach Edmond Tarverdyan.

If Ronda Rousey’s open workout at Federation Square in Melbourne on Thursday was supposed to be a light showcase for the fans — no one told the UFC women’s bantamweight champion.

Taking the stage after fellow fighters Antonio Silva, Valerie Letourneau, Mark Hunt, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and her opponent at UFC 193 on Sunday, Holly Holm, had completed a bit of hit and giggle for the crowd, Rousey showed why she is at the top of the sport by training twice as long as anyone else.

But the 30-minute session of stretching, grappling, pad work and skipping was nothing, apparently. “I usually do much more than that, this is actually my rest week. This is one of my easy days,” Rousey said.

“I don’t go up there just for show. I’m really training when I’m up there. It’s really what we need to do at this point in camp. I’m not just going up there and doing the minimum possible for the fans so I can do my secret little things in the back.”

But there was some strategy in what combinations and manoeuvres she put on show. “Whenever I do an open workout I do a couple of things that are decoys — things I’m not planning on doing but I’m showing it anyway,” Rousey said.

“But they could watch every single one of my trainings leading up to the fight and they could have known me since I was four and I’m still going to beat them. It doesn’t matter.”

The reason for Rousey’s success, in her words, is because she simply works harder than any of her rivals. Her passion for the sport is next level — sometimes driving her to tears.

“I was sitting on the mats the other day just after training and I was looking at the Tatami (mat) and the little ridges in the Tatami and thinking of all those nights I slept on Tatami as a kid or when I was tired and my face was on it and imprinting the little pattern in my face and I just started crying,” Rousey said.

“Coach was like ‘what’s wrong?’ and I said ‘I love these mats’. That’s why I’m going to win. That’s why I’m better than all these girls. You think Holly Holm ever looks at a boxing ring and cries because she loves it so much? No.”

The following videos are a sample of what Rousey did during her workout, in order:

Don’t be dismayed if this looks beyond your ability. “This is what I was put on this earth to do,” Rousey said. “This is a mission that was given to me. I really think I’ve found my place and what I’m supposed to be doing.”