"Muhammad Ali and those guys" - UFC legends applaud Ronda Rousey for sharing how her health influenced decision to retire from MMA
A pair of UFC legends recently weighed in on Ronda Rousey and shared their support for her after she noted that her health influenced her decision to retire from MMA.
'Rowdy' recently released her latest book: 'Our Fight: A Memoir'. She discussed the concussions she sustained dating back to her judo career. The revelation caught the attention of UFC legends Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier, who shared their thoughts on her claims on the latest episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy.
Cormier mentioned that the concussions could have noticeable effects and praised the former women's bantamweight champion as her comments could result in more being done to help prevent them. He said:
"That tells you that she [Ronda Rousey] wants to try to help that generation that follows. Because a lot of times, you get embarrassed about that, man, because it can slow your speech. Muhammad Ali and those guys. It can really mess with your brain, obviously you and I don't have that problem, we're lucky, but there are a lot of fighters that struggle with this or football players or judo athletes." [37:46 - 38:07]
Chael Sonnen notes "sincerity" of Ronda Rousey's comments
Sonnen chimed in and mentioned that Rousey speaking about the effects of concussions is significant because he believes it could possibly effect her future in pro wrestling or MMA should she pursue a return. He said:
"I don't know that Ronda is going to be able to return to the ring, which I'm not sure she's totally done with. I'm not sure she's ever going to quite admit that she wants to never do MMA again, but having statements like this essentially shuts the book on those things which I think adds to the sincerity." [39:42 - 39:56]
It will be interesting to see whether the comments made by Rousey in her latest book will cast doubt on her future in pro wrestling and combat sports.
Whether her book will result in commissions and governing bodies adding more resources to deal with concussions and the recovery from concussions remains to be seen.
Check out the full episode below: