After her graceless performance during UFC 193 in Melbourne, Ronda Rousey is back in the good books.

On Friday the mixed martial arts fighter attended a Marine Corps ball in South Carolina with a soldier who asked her out in a social media post.

Lance Corporal Jarrod Haschert asked Rousey out in August, when the 26-year-old was the unbeaten UFC bantamweight world champion.

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“You are my celebrity crush,” he said.

“I love everything that you do, and I think that you are a phenomenal person which is why it would be my honour to take you to the Marine Corps Ball on December 11.

“I really hope this doesn’t get in the way of your training. I hope you take this into consideration, because if you do, you will truly be making my dream come true.”

At the time, Rousey thought attending the date might be difficult.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I can’t go anyway, because I’m in camp’, but the fight got moved, so I actually can go,” she said.

“But I don’t know how to, like, hit him up and say, ‘Yeah, I wanna go with you’.”

So on Friday, Rousey – who suffered a brutal second-round knockout at the hands of Holly Holm in Melbourne last month – flew to South Carolina to meet the 22-year-old marine.

Thank you Lance Cpl. Jarrod Haschert for taking me to the Marine Corps Ball, being such a gentleman, and putting a smile on my face again 🙏🏼

A photo posted by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on Dec 12, 2015 at 8:38am PST

Rousey was spotted by celebrity website TMZ heading to the ball, and she said it was a good chance to get out of the house after the disappointment of the Holm defeat.

“Honestly I probably would stay on my couch crying and eating ice cream for another month if he didn’t ask me,” Rousey said.

In her first interview since the brutal knockout, Rousey said she was determined to avenge the loss.

“I need to come back. I need to beat this chick,” she told ESPN last week.

“Who knows if I’m going to pop my teeth out or break my jaw or rip my lip open. I have to f***ing do it.

“I got hit in that first round … I cut my lip open and knocked a couple of my teeth loose. I was out on my feet from the very beginning.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I had that huge cut in my mouth and I just spit [the blood] out at my feet. Then they brought the bucket over and I’m like, ‘Why didn’t I spit it in the bucket?’ I never spit on the ground.”

“I just feel so embarrassed. How I fought after that is such an embarrassing representation of myself. I wasn’t even f***ing there.”