Revealing a slew of successive concussions forced her to ultimately call time on her combat sports career, former UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey claims each time she was hit with even a jab during her fights inside the Octagon, she would be “seeing stars”.
Rousey, an alum of both the UFC and professional wrestling outfit, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) – now both under the TKO Group Holdings banner, had been linked with a stunning Octagon return throughout recent months.
And ahead of a monumental UFC 300 card next month, the Riverside native was linked with a slot on the card in a stunning return to competition, in the form of potential rematches with former foes and fellow ex-champions, Holly Holm, and Miesha Tate.
The promotion’s inaugural bantamweight champion having striked gold under the banner of Strikeforce to boot, Ronda Rousey ended her time in the Octagon with a devastating 48-second TKO loss to former two-weight champion, Amanda Nunes back in 2016.
With an upcoming memoir on her career set for release, Judoka star, Rousey revealed that a long string of concussions led to her decision to ultimately walk away from the UFC – claiming even jab strikes would leave her reeling.
Ronda Rousey reveals jab strikes led to concussions during UFC run
“I had a very rich concussion history before I even started in MMA,” Ronda Rousey told Cageside Seats during a recent interview. “For my entire judo career, which was like 10 years, I actually was experiencing concussion symptoms more often than not for an entire decade.”
“…If i got any kind of significant strike, I would be seeing stars, which is not normal.” Ronda Rousey explained. “It got to the point where if I was getting touched at all, if I was getting jabbed, I was starting to get concussion symptoms and I couldn’t tell my coach about it. I couldn’t tell Dana (White) about it, ‘cause they would retire me. They wouldn’t let me fight. And I wasn’t ready to let go. I wasn’t ready to admit that I couldn’t do everything perfectly. ‘Cause that’s what I had to believe to be able to be at that level.”
Prior to her loss to Nunes, Rousey saw her unbeaten record come crashing down courtesy of an hellacious second round high-kick KO loss to the above-mentioned, Holm in 2015 – in a bout which she claimed she was suffering in almost initially.
