Ronda Rousey is now scheduled to make her return to MMA on May 16th, but many have raised concerns about her health since she discussed her history with concussions less than two years ago.
In 2024, Rousey pointed to concussions suffered in the octagon and in training that have had long-lasting effects on her, and ultimately pushed her to step away from combat sports. Now with her return scheduled not long after her admission of her neurological health condition, most have been expecting some sort of explanation.
“My concussion history that I had to keep secret for years, so I would be able to continue to compete and perform.”
“That’s basically why I had to retire”
Now, the former women’s UFC champion has provided an update on her health pertaining to concussion-related issues. Rousey says that she has learned a lot since she made her previously mentioned statement, and now realizes she was misdiagnosed. According to Rousey, it is evident that the problems she has been experiencing are related to a migraine condition and not a severe concussion syndrome.
Rousey is scheduled to square off with another women’s MMA legend, Gina Carano, who has not competed since 2009. Meanwhile Rousey has been out of the octagon for 10 years now herself. The card is being promoted by Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions and will be available on Netflix on May 16th.
“I lose big chunks of my vision, my depth perception and ability to think clearly. Dr. [Charles] Bernick at the Cleveland Clinic said ‘I’ve listened to all of your symptoms, I’ve looked at all of your scans, your brain looks great.’” Rousey said.
“I was telling him about my history and as a kid I would get migraines all the time and epilepsy runs in my family. Every generation of my family, someone’s had epilepsy and there’s some sort of link between epilepsy and migraines. He was saying that people that get migraines are more susceptible to getting concussions, and the more concussions I get, the easier it is to get a migraine.
“What he thinks is happening is that I’m not actually getting a concussion every single time that this is happening,” Rousey continued. “He thinks it’s setting off what’s called migraine aura where you just lose big chunks of your vision and it’s called cortical spreading depression. Where I guess your neurons get overly excited and depolarize and shut down in a wave and that’s why I lose chunks of my vision when I’m getting hit.”
(h/t MMA Fighting)