SAN DIEGO — Ronda Rousey has been swarmed by an avalanche of criticism following her mystique-shattering knockout loss to Holly Holm last year.

The piling on has intensified due to her reclusive behavior, including comments restricted to chummy, high-profile chats on network television.

Seeking to interpret what is going on in the Los Angeles fighter’s mind as her Dec. 30 return against new women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes nears is an inexact, but popular pursuit for outsiders.

Men’s bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who will defend his title in the UFC 207 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, says when considering Rousey’s situation from his vantage point, it makes perfect sense.

“I get it, 100 percent, no question,” Cruz told the Los Angeles Times this week in an interview at a bayside restaurant near his gym. “People don’t understand how hard it is to have the whole world looking at you lose.”

Beyond Holm’s decided advantages when Rousey tried to stand and fight the former world champion boxer, Rousey (12-1) was dealt her first loss while her status as the face of female fighting dwindled to the sad sight of her shielding her face upon arrival at LAX.

She has been skewered for taking the loss so badly, for silencing a voice of rising importance on social issues, for shrinking from the defeat instead of shrugging it off and vowing a reunion with the belt.

That’s the hinted-at theme of UFC ads aimed at a fan base who helped make her the company’s top draw but haven’t heard much else from her since Conor McGregor’s emergence.

“She only gets to hear everybody else’s opinions now,” Cruz said, explaining that from an elite fighter’s standpoint, “When she gives her opinion, it doesn’t matter any more because she lost.

“It’s a horrible entrapment you feel. It’s a scary feeling. You feel everyone has turned on you. You feel trapped. You feel everyone is a liar. So I completely understand why she’s shut out, why she doesn’t care, why she doesn’t give interviews or anything else.

“Now, all that matters is winning, so that when she talks, it matters again. All that anybody cares about is a win. Then, by winning, I become relevant again. By losing, I prove everybody right, and they get to continue giving their two cents. I win? Their two cents mean nothing.

“Every single one of us athletes, including myself in this fight, puts that on the line. That’s the hardest part about it.”

Cruz (22-1) has suffered through the abandon after fighting only once between Oct. 1, 2011, and Jan. 17 due to knee injuries and a groin tear. He recaptured the bantamweight belt by defeating T.J. Dillashaw 11 months ago, and successfully defended it by closing his trilogy against rival Urijah Faber with a June 4 victory.