“However, sometimes, even when you prepare, give everything you have, and want something so badly, it doesn’t work how you planned,” Ronda Rousey said in an ESPN interview back in 201, reflecting on her first thoughts after the crushing 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 207. ‘Rowdy’ may have walked away with a hefty $3 million payday for her comeback. But her decision to retire wasn’t just about ring rust. It ran deeper than that.

‘Rowdy’ has always been regarded as one of the toughest female fighters ever. But one question kept circling—why couldn’t she even last a round? As it turns out, Rousey was dealing with a serious medical condition before stepping into the cage against Nunes. Speaking on the Untapped podcast, she revealed, “If I was getting hit at all, I was basically losing my vision and ability to think.” The cause? Debilitating migraines. Still, she chose to take the fight anyway. But why? Well, she had an answer for that, too.

Ronda Rousey was in “Denial” before taking the Amanda Nunes fight 

Rousey’s two-year run as bantamweight champ had already locked her in as one of the greatest to ever do it. But deep down, she thought she could just power through a serious medical issue and still get the job done. That kind of thinking doesn’t fly when you’re facing someone like Amanda Nunes. She took the fight anyway, and it ended up costing her more than just the belt.

At the Untappped Podcast, she further revealed, “I think there was a lot of denial going on at the time. But, yeah, I also feel like very obligated. I think it was one of those fights I was there. I think those last two fights. I felt like I was there for everybody else. And it was obligations that were really pushing me to be there.” 

‘Rowdy’ became a full-blown superstar during her dominant run. But as she later admitted, it was that feeling of being invincible—finishing opponents without taking much damage—that messed with her mindset. It gave her this false sense of confidence. The belief that she could walk through Amanda Nunes the same way. 

She added, “And I think ‘You have to think yourself as being invincible’ Even as I knew like and even as I knew like It was getting worse. I had to think, ‘Oh I can be perfect. I can win the fight without getting hit.”

Rousey made a very drastic decision in her career by making a comeback while dealing with a condition like that. But the truth is, her illness didn’t just show up before the Nunes fight. She revealed that she’d dealt with migraine issues even ahead of her bout with Sara McMann, which she won while dealing with the pain.

Rousey opens up about migraine struggles during Sara McMann fight

Ronda Rousey defended her 135-pound title for the third time at UFC 170 in 2014, taking on Sara McMann. By then, she was already feared for her vicious armbars. But this time, ‘Rowdy’ showed off her striking too, finishing the fight with brutal knees to the body in the very first round. It was an impressive win by all accounts. But as Rousey later revealed, she pulled it off while battling a migraine the whole time.

She further added at the Untapped podcast, “It happened in the Sarah McMann fight, where I basically didn’t get hit at all. But, after the fight, I had these migraine auras, like now I know they are and had to like shut all of the lights at the back room. But if you look at that fight, I barely got hit. But that was literally the margin of error that I was dealing with. If I hadn’t finished her in that first minute, it might not have ended that way you know.” 

It’s a shocking revelation from Rousey. Still, after the McMann fight, she stayed active, fighting four more times with barely any breaks in between. She steamrolled through Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, and Bethe Correia, all inside the first round, before Holly Holm finally ended her reign.

That said, with Rousey now deep into her pro-wrestling journey, a return to the Octagon feels more unlikely than ever. But it does raise a bigger question: how much do MMA fighters pay attention to their health before stepping into a fight?