Female MMA legend shocks fans by revealing the secret that led to her retirement

R. Rousey before fighting for the UFC (Photo: Disclosure/UFC)

Pioneer of women's MMA in Ultimate, the North American Ronda Rousey gave a delicate account of what motivated her to retire from the sport. About to launch her biography, called 'Our Fight', the former bantamweight champion (up to 61,2kg) revealed that she hung up her gloves early due to a long history of concussions that had accompanied her since her judo days.

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“My concussion history I had to keep secret for years so I could continue to compete and perform. That's basically why I had to retire. A lot of it had to do with having so many concussions when I was in judo before I even got into MMA, I couldn't talk about it when I was fighting MMA. Because that would literally put a target on my head, and I might not be allowed to compete anymore,” Ronda said.

After leaving the UFC, Rousey went to WWE and said that she thought it was better not to reveal her history in the new organization.

“It was the same thing with WWE. They have a complicated history with their performers having concussions and it would be complicated for him. So I felt like I couldn't really talk about it. So, I feel like that would be the best way I would be able to properly deal with it,” concluded the former champion.

Olympic and Pan-American judo medalist, Ronda switched to MMA in 2011. In a meteoric career in the new modality, Rousey won the bantamweight belt in the UFC and in the old Strikeforce event. The American hung up her gloves in 2016 with a record of 12 wins and just two losses as a mixed martial arts professional.

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