Number 1 of 2It has taken me a while to respond to Ronda Rousey’s kind message to me sent over a week ago. The original video is below, followed by my response. Posted by Steve Watts on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

When Steve Watts awoke early one morning last month, he turned to see his phone glaring with a strange text message.

“It was five in the morning and I just happened to roll over and see the phone light up,” he told the Outpost. “Of course I couldn’t move, but I saw it read ‘Ronda Rousey.’”

Watts is most recently known for sustaining an injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down while fighting in the Cher-Ae Heights Casino “So You Wanna Fight” mixed martial arts tournament last year.

Steve Watts before his injury. Watts’ Facebook profile picture.

He said in a phone interview today that he was stunned to see UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey reach out to him in a personal video. Unknown to Watts, a mutual friend who works in the entertainment business shared his story with the sports icon.

Soon after, Watts received the video from Rousey wishing him well on his recovery.

“Hi Steve, my name’s Ronda,” Rousey said in the video. “I stumbled across your story. A friend of mine sent it to me and I just wanted to wish you the best possible luck on your recovery. I can’t possibly understand everything that you’re going through, but if I’ve ever learned anything, it’s that being in pursuit of a near impossible goal is one of the most rewarding endeavors that you can ever embark on.”

Watts said it was a surreal experience because he had trained with mutual coaches and developed an affinity for “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey before she was a household name.

“Because she’s such a badass, people think she’s mean or cruel. We all have these many faces, but I noticed she was holding her hand to her heart, and for a martial artist of that stature, that struck me as unusual and clearly kind,” Watts said. “[The video] shows the level of tightness within the martial arts community.”

After pondering the video for a week, Watts responded with a video message of his own.

“It can be a really, really, really cold hard world on the best of all days,” Watts said in the video. “But for me, it was a wonderful day to start on that foot of the very kind and understanding video that you sent me.”

Watts is unsure if he will hear from Rousey again, but in her video the sports superstar said she hoped to meet him one day.

“I don’t know, it could certainly happen the way she phrased it. Particularly if it was the type of thing where everything was aligned and we were in the same place at the same time,” Watts said. “Beyond that I don’t think she’s going to call me at home and start conversing with me or anything, but you never know.”

Watts said he continues to rehabilitate his injury, but is unsure if he will ever recover.

Steve Watts working to rehabilitate his arms. Screenshot from Watts’ Facbook video.

“It’s a struggle, it has a lot of ups and downs. I’m in a wheelchair that I can only operate by using my mouth,” Watts said. “Sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have really bad weeks. Some days you measure your success in different manners. Some days just getting out of bed and doing some exercise is a success. It is not a fast process and healing is never guaranteed.”

The Give Forward page set up to help Watts pay for medical expenses has raised more than $26,000, and friends of the fighter continue to show support through various means.

Watts’ old high school wrestling teammates will be competing in a Tough Mudder race on Oct. 17 to raise money for his cause. Close friend Bryan Raskin also recently raised $2,500 in pledges for running the New York City Marathon.

Watts is also a musician, and is working with friends to host a day long concert in the spring.

“We’re putting a lot of energy into it. I really do need further help and it’s a steep and painful road,” Watts said. “I’m finding that I’m one of the more rare cases that is harder to treat. But that’s right at the heart of everything I’ve done for so long.”