Ronda Rousey Opens Up About Neurological Damage and Retirement from MMA
Ronda Rousey, once the face of women's mixed martial arts, has officially put to rest any speculation about a possible return to the octagon. In a candid and revealing discussion, Rousey opened up about the irreversible neurological damage that has forced her permanent retirement from the sport.
Rousey’s rise to stardom was meteoric. She rapidly transitioned from regional competitions to Strikeforce and ultimately became a household name in the UFC. Her influence was so significant that she convinced UFC President Dana White to reconsider his stance on women competing in the UFC. But her career, filled with glory and triumph, also concealed a darker reality—one of lifelong neurological struggles.
“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 explained.
The wear and tear on her brain began far before she entered the cage. “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,” Rousey revealed. Growing up in the world of competitive sports, injuries were part of the territory, and unfortunately for Rousey, head injuries became a recurring issue.
Her judo career, which began at a young age, compounded the problem. “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,” Rousey recalled. The culture around her demanded silence in the face of injury, an issue that is all too common in the world of contact sports.
By the time she transitioned to MMA, Rousey had already endured dozens of concussions. Yet, the competitive drive pushed her to train through these debilitating injuries. “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,” she said.
Despite this uphill battle, Rousey achieved phenomenal success in MMA, but the physical toll was mounting. “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 stated.
Her decision to step away from the sport came after back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. These losses were more than just career setbacks; they were indicative of the severe toll the sport was taking on her neurologically. Rousey described her increasing sensitivity to hits: “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.”
Rousey's revelations bring to light a critical issue in contact sports: the culture of silence around neurological injuries. “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 said.
Her openness about her struggles not only highlights the unspoken battles faced by many athletes but also compels a much-needed discussion about athlete health and safety in sports where concussions are a common risk. Rousey’s career, resilience, and now her candidness about her neurological health have significantly raised the profile of women's fighting in MMA and thrust important health discussions into the spotlight.
While fans may hold onto hope for a Rousey comeback, her message is clear: her fighting days are over, but her impact on the sport and the conversations she has sparked will continue to resonate. “It's nice to feel missed, I guess. But it's not happening,” she firmly stated, closing the chapter on one of the most influential careers in MMA history.