Ronda Rousey Reveals Why She Kept Quiet About Her Concussion History In UFC And WWE

Ronda Rousey holds the distinction of being the only woman to hold the world women's title in both of TKO's entities, UFC or WWE. She made the transition to wrestling after her retirement from MMA following back-to-back title losses by knockout against Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, holding multiple titles before her WWE departure last year. Rousey has since revealed that she had accomplished all she had done whilst hiding her concussion history. 

"My concussion history, I had to keep [it] secret for years, so I would be able to continue to compete and perform," she revealed in an Instagram preview of her upcoming memoir, "Our Fight."

She further opened up on the aftermath of her loss to Holly Holm — her first professional defeat in MMA — and why she felt like she couldn't address it. "I think that there was just so much to [the Holm loss], that I couldn't talk about it in the form of like an interview or an article or anything like that, or there would be several filters between my words and people reading it."

The former WWE star dived deeper as to why she is only now talking about her concussion history, reasoning that she would have put a target on her head if she shared it while actively competing in MMA. Rousey said she might not have been allowed to compete further, and that was the same situation while she was with WWE. WWE is known to be strict in its concussion protocols after instances of wrestlers suffering brain trauma.

Rousey will likely share more previously unknown details about her career in combat sports in her memoir set to release in April. She has already recently denounced WWE as well as lambasting Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis for their time running the company, as well as the ongoing sex trafficking lawsuit filed against McMahon and Laurinaitis.