Ronda Rousey: Cleveland Clinic found alternative explanation for concussion-like issues

Ronda Rousey’s return has been met with a lot of controversy. One of the storylines is her pursuit of competition (and its perks) despite admitting to suffering from a traumatic brain injury and neurological issues.

The California Athletic Commission (CSAC) said both Rossi and Gina Carano will undergo extensive medical testing before being cleared to compete on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. But Rossi himself didn’t address his health status following his return until an interview on “The Jim Rome Show” on Friday.

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Rousey said that when she approached UFC CEO Dana White with the idea of ​​competing again, he sent her to the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, where Dr. Charles Bernick diagnosed her exact problem. Headaches and vision problems can occur even in light boxing matches, but according to Rousey, Bernick offered an alternative explanation.

“They did every test possible to check me,” Rousey said. “I actually ended up getting a positive diagnosis because we never really figured out what was happening to me. Basically, with lighter and lighter hits, I developed concussion symptoms. I lost most of my vision, depth perception, and ability to think clearly. Dr. Bernick from the Cleveland Clinic said, ‘Listen. Listen to all your symptoms. I’ve seen All your scans. Your brain looks great. ‘I told him about my history, that as a kid, I always had epilepsy. There’s been a link between epilepsy and migraines in my family. The more concussions I had, the more likely I was to get migraines.

“What he thought was happening was that I didn’t actually get a concussion every time it happened. He thought it triggered what’s called a migraine aura, where you lose big chunks of vision. It’s called cortical spreading depression, where your neurons get overexcited, depolarize, and then shut down like a wave. That’s why when I get hit, I lose big chunks of vision.”

Rousey, 39, said the news was a relief. She seeks medication for migraines and recently discovered one she believes can prevent problems in advance, but she has no plans to fight Carano.

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“For me, I thought, ‘Oh my God. I’m not going to die. CTE is not going to get me,'” Rousey said. “There are actually things we can do to fix this problem. But first, we couldn’t find any preventive migraine medication. That’s usually something that’s used afterward. Just recently, we found something that I can take that’s preventive and will hopefully fix this problem for me. It’s been life-changing for me.

“Of course, I went into the fight not to get hit once. Because that’s basically what I’ve had to do my entire career. But thanks to Dana sending me to the Cleveland Clinic, I finally got a positive diagnosis, actually knew what was going on, and had some actionable knowledge.”