Ronda Rousey has opened up about one of the scariest parts of her MMA career and why she thought her fighting days were over.
For years, the former UFC superstar believed she was suffering from long-term concussion damage after repeated blows left her temporarily blind in the cage. Rousey revealed during her interview on The Breakfast Club that every impact felt like a career-ending moment.
“I had so many concussions since I was a kid and they were getting progressively worse… it got to the point where like any kind of impact at all, I was basically losing my vision.â€
According to Rousey, Dana White encouraged her to take part in a long-term fighter study, which led to a game-changing trip to the Cleveland Clinic. Thatâ€s where she finally got answers she wasnâ€t expecting.
“Dana had me be part of this long-term fighter study… so he sent me to the Cleveland Clinic. The doctor there was the first person to actually give me good news. He said that I used to get migraines as a kid, and people who get migraines are more susceptible to concussions—but he thinks whatâ€s happening is that Iâ€m not actually getting concussions all the time. He said my brain looks better than it should.â€
The doctor explained that Rouseyâ€s frightening in-fight symptoms may not have been concussions at all but something different entirely.
“He thinks that when Iâ€m getting hit, Iâ€m not experiencing concussion symptoms—itâ€s migraine symptoms. Because you can have a migraine without a headache. So I get hit, I lose a big chunk of my vision, I lose depth perception, my ability to track moving objects, or think quickly—and I think, ‘Oh, Iâ€m knocked out. Iâ€m out on my feet.†But heâ€s like, ‘Youâ€re not stumbling around. I donâ€t think itâ€s a concussion. I think itâ€s a migraine.â€â€
For Rousey, this revelation changes everything. What she once believed was permanent neurological decline may actually be treatable.
“So it got to the point where I felt like I couldnâ€t fight safely because if I got hit, I could basically go blind. But now… there are things I can do about it—like address it nutritionally. Itâ€s not the nail in the coffin I thought it was. That was actually really great news. I just donâ€t know what Iâ€m going to do with that yet.â€
Rouseyâ€s admission sheds new light on the end of her UFC career and proves that fans never knew the full story behind her struggles. While a return to fighting remains uncertain, the revelation about her health offers her hope she never expected.
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