Ronda Rouseya former UFC women’s championspoke out on June 192025about the neurological condition that ended her MMA career. The 38-year-old revealed how concussions triggered migrainescausing her to lose vision mid-fightforcing her retirement. A recent diagnosis now offers hope.
In an interviewRousey discussed her past silencethe medical findingsand her plans to address the issue.
Rousey’s Health Challenges
Rousey addressed her retirement decision.
“I don’t have any regrets or anything like that,” she said. “FortunatelyI have a lot more information now about what was going on with me. I just felt like I couldn’t be honest about what I was physically going through without people feeling like I was making excuses for myself. I also feel like I didn’t owe anyone any explanation especially if they were going to shit all over it. So yeahI needed to figure out what was going on first.”
She added“Dana sent me to this long-term fighters’ neurological study and they actually made some—I wouldn’t call them breakthroughsbut actually were able to diagnose a lot of the stuff that was going on with me and I guess still is. I just didn’t have all the information at that time. SoI couldn’t hand that information to me then to explain things better nowso noI don’t dwell on that at all. It was the best I could do with what I had.”
Neurological Condition Details
Rousey explained the impact.
“He was saying that people that get migraines are actually more susceptible to concussions and the more concussions that you getthe easier it is for these impacts to set off a migraine,” she said. “And he was saying that not all migraines involve a searing headachethe headache part isn’t part of all of it and so what we think was going on was we kind of ended up in this feedback loop of the more concussions I was getting the easier it was to set off these migraines and so in these fights—go figuretwo of my triggers is bright lights and head impacts—so I’d get hit and I’d basically lose big chunks of my vision and my depth perception and my ability to track movements quickly and make snap decisionswhich is basically all the things that I need and I thought I have a concussionI’m out on my feetbut I wouldn’t be stumbling around.”
She continued“I didn’t lose my balance. This was likeI had to retire because this kept happening to me more and more often to the point where I would get a jab and I would basically go blind.” via MMAFighting
Born on February 11987in RiversideCaliforniaRousey started judo as a child. She won an Olympic bronze medal in 2008 and began MMA in 2010. She joined the UFC in 2013claiming the bantamweight title with a win over Liz Carmouche.
Her record is 12-2with victories over Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano. Losses to Holly Holm in 2015 and Amanda Nunes in 2016 prompted her retirement at 29.
Hope from Medical Insights
Rousey found a new outlook.
“[The doctor] said what he thinks is happening is these impactsnow because of all the concussionsare setting off these migraine eventswhich is like my neurons get overly excited and then they shut down,” she said. “So it could be a game changer because there could actually be some solutions to it. Before I was like‘Ohit’s just inevitably declined and I inevitably declined until I was shitting my pants. Great. This is my life now.’ I was likeI need to stop this or else I’m just speeding this up.”
She added“Now that I’m kind of getting some help in diagnosis and stuff like thatI’m much more hopeful than I’ve ever been and instead of just being like‘OKthis is just part of itI’ve just got to walk away before it gets worse,’ possibly there’s something I can do to make it better. I just didn’t have this information back then. I didn’t know what to say other than there’s something going on with me and I can’t fight anymore because of it.”
Rousey’s last fight against Nunes in December 2016 showed her struggles. The knockout losstied to head traumaled her to step away. She hid her condition then to avoid judgment.
The neurological studybacked by Dana Whiteuncovered the migraine link. Her openness now helps explain her choice.
Since retiringRousey has acted in films like Expendables 3 and written books. She also started a familyfocusing on health and new projects.
At 38Rousey explores treatments for her conditionmoving from fighting to advocacy. Her path inspires others.
Influence on Fighter Health
Rousey’s story highlights concussion risks in MMA. Her success opened doors for women’s fightingshaping figures like Amanda Nunes.
Her experience pushes for better safety measures. The sport grows with her lessons.
