Ronda Rousey's loss to Holly Holm stripped her of her undefeated record and title, marking the end of her MMA career.
Why Ronda Rousey realized she couldn't fight in the UFC anymore
as its name suggests, ronda rousey She is truly the “baddest woman on earth.” She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo. Following this, she went on to become a champion mixed martial arts fighter, paving the way for others to follow. She was also the first female world champion. UFC He held the bantamweight title for three years.
Rousey went on to defend her title six times, ultimately losing to Holly Holm at UFC 193. She went into the fight as the favorite, but to everyone's shock, Holm was eliminated in the biggest upset in UFC history. She knocked Rousey out with a kick to the temple, and it took 59 seconds of the first round to ground the champion.
This was Rousey's first loss, and she remained depressed for some time after the match. Many believed Rousey was avoiding the media, but she said: cage side seatHe revealed a completely different, and rather serious, reason.
Rousey has always had an “extensive history of concussions” throughout her judo career (almost 10 years), and revealed that she battled concussions “frequently for a full 10 years.”
Focusing on Rousey's journey as a judoka, she started training at a very young age of 11 years old. cage side seat Rousey stated that she began suffering concussions very early in training. Despite this, Rousey kept her health a secret, which had long-term effects. Her concussion gradually worsened, and she says she would “see stars” after “any kind of significant blow in mixed martial arts.”
So, in order to become one of the best MMA fighters, Rousey had to develop a fighting style that minimized her chances of getting hit. The biggest reason for this was the awareness that even a good blow from the opponent could quickly end the match.
Although Rousey maintained an impressive winning streak, her concussion problems only increased and posed a major threat to her MMA career. However, fearing that she would otherwise lose her contract, she chose to continue.
“If I got touched or jabbed, I started having concussion symptoms and I couldn't tell my coach about it. I couldn't tell my husband about it because they didn't want me to retire. Yeah. 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. Because… That's what I had to believe in order to get to that level,” she said in the report.
Rousey also revealed that her fight with Holmes was not on the original UFC 193 fight card and that she suffered a major accident just two weeks before the fight. She slipped down the stairs, losing her consciousness and damaging her anterior cruciate ligament. The impact on her was so great that she mentally lost the fight even before she boarded the plane to Melbourne, the venue for UFC 193.
Rousey, who is still recovering from an ACL and concussion, said: “The first time I got touched in that fight, all my bottom teeth fell out and I was completely standing for the entire fight.'' She didn't know if it made sense to her or how far she was from me.and [I was] I can't see things right away. Usually when I'm fighting, time stretches out and everything appears in slow motion. It was like being in a fog and not knowing anything about the area. ”
This result took away her undefeated record and title, not long after her MMA career.
It was difficult for Rousey to accept the fact that she was no longer fit to compete at the highest level of the UFC. The report added that even the slightest blow would send Ronda spinning after the match.
Despite her concussion troubles, Rousey kept it under wraps and met a similar fate a year later when she challenged Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight belt. The only difference this time was that the fight ended in the first round itself, lasting a total of 48 seconds.
After climbing to the top of the MMA ladder, Rousey continued to establish herself in the professional wrestling world as well. She has held the WWE Championship five times, once as Raw Women's Champion and twice as SmackDown Women's Champion.
She's also been involved in some notable Hollywood projects and is set to release her memoir, Our Fight, next week.
