Ronda Rousey Highlights Issue In MMA That Needs To Be Addressed

Ronda Rousey's imprint on the landscape of mixed martial arts transcends her in-ring accomplishments. As a vanguard of women's MMA and former UFC champion, she created a paradigm shift in the sport before pivoting to a high-profile run in WWE. Now, Rousey leverages her platform to illuminate a critical issue permeating combat sports. Speaking on the "SHAK MMA" podcast, Rousey peeled back the layers of her experiences in both UFC and WWE, exposing a pressing concern that evades public scrutiny. 

"Cumulative neurological injury is just something that people don't talk about in MMA, which is something that also everyone is dealing with at a different pace. And I started dealing with it at six years old, I started getting concussions," Rousey said. "Kept getting concussions regularly, you know, multiple times a year and not being allowed to speak up or say anything about it. As a fighter, you're just not supposed to show any weakness or talk about things like that."

Rousey further detailed how her foray into WWE compounded her silence surrounding head trauma, underscoring the pervasive nature of this issue across the combat sports spectrum. 

"I wanted to move on to another realm that also had a lot of stigma with concussions and neurological injury. And because I wanted to move on to do something else, it also forced my silence on the subject until I was done with that. ... I wish that more people would [open up about head trauma], because the longevity of our fighters is at stake."

As of this writing, the former MMA star appears to be content in her retirement from the sport. In fact, Rousey doesn't even want to attend UFC events, noting that she'd only do so under certain circumstances.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "SHAK MMA" podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.