– During a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri for SHAK MMA, former WWE Superstar and UFC Champion Ronda Rousey addressed the issue of cumulative neurological injury for combat athletes and MMA fighters. She noted that she stayed largely silent on the issue previously after moving from UFC to WWE. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):
Ronda Rousey on concerns over cumulative neurological injury for combat athletes: “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. 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.”
On staying silent over head trauma issues due to moving from UFC to WWE: “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.”
Ronda Rousey departed from WWE last year after losing to Shayna Baszler at WWE SummerSlam 2023.
