In a revealing and candid disclosure, former MMA superstar Ronda Rousey has put to bed any speculation about her return to mixed martial arts, opening up about the severe and lasting neurological damage that has relegated her from the sport she once dominated.
"It's nice to feel missed, I guess. But it's not happening. I'm not neurologically fit to compete anymore at the highest level. I just can't. You just get to a level where the neurological injuries you take accumulate over time. They don't get better," Rousey disclosed, addressing her legion of fans and the MMA community.
Rousey's rapid ascent from the regional circuits to becoming a household name in the UFC is well-documented. Her influence even extended to forcing UFC President Dana White to reconsider his stance on women's participation in the UFC. But behind that meteoric rise was a hidden battle with neurological injuries that began far earlier than her MMA career.
Rousey revealed that she has been grappling with concussions since the tender age of six, initially triggered by accidental collisions while swimming. "I started dealing with it at six years old. I started getting concussions much earlier on in swimming. Two kids doing a backstroke in the other direction crack heads or hit the wall doing the backstroke," she explained. Her transition to judo at a young age did not alleviate these problems but rather compounded them. "I started doing judo at a young age and kept getting concussions regularly and multiple times a year and not being allowed to speak up or say anything about it."
By the time Rousey entered MMA, her history with concussions was extensive. "When I got into MMA, I had already had dozens of concussions that I trained through. Like, not even stopped for. So that was about a decade of having concussion symptoms more often than not," Rousey shared.
Despite her undeniable prowess in the octagon, Rousey's career came to an early and abrupt end following consecutive knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. These losses were not just pivotal in her career trajectory but also highlighted her accumulating neurological woes. "I got to a point where I couldn't take a jab without getting dazed, without getting concussion symptoms. It just got to a point where it wasn't safe for me to fight anymore. I just couldn't continue to fight at that higher level," she said, recounting the difficulty she faced in those final years.
Rousey’s experiences shed light on a darker aspect of contact sports— the silent battle with neurological decline. "As a fighter, you're not supposed to show any weakness or talk about things like that or the inevitable neurological decline that comes with taking headshots. A lot of people talk about it as if it's making excuses or weakness," she remarked, drawing attention to the pervasive culture of silence surrounding injuries in such high-stakes sports.
The former Olympic bronze medalist's narrative serves as an important reminder of the often invisible struggles that athletes endure in pursuit of their careers. Rousey's story is not only a personal revelation but also a clarion call for better concussion management and support systems in contact sports.
Her decision to speak openly about her neurological issues has opened critical discourse on the subject, compelling discussions about the health and safety of athletes. Rousey’s contributions to MMA and her current advocacy efforts continue to raise the profile of women’s fighting and athlete wellbeing.
For fans holding out hope for a comeback, Rousey has made it abundantly clear: "When I got into MMA, I was playing a game of zero errors. Then it got to the point where I was fighting more often than anybody. I had more outside of fighting responsibilities than anybody, and it just got to be lighter and lighter hits were hurting me more and more and more."
The concerns Rousey raises resonate deeply within the contact sports community, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced awareness and proactive measures to safeguard athletes' health. Her outspoken stance rekindles the dialogue around the long-term impacts of repeated head trauma and sets a precedent for future generations of fighters.
In conclusion, while the octagon will no longer witness the fiery presence of Ronda Rousey, her legacy continues to influence and inspire, both within the sport and beyond, advocating for the well-being of athletes at all levels.