Ronda Rousey gave heartbreaking explanation as to why we don't see her anymore

Ronda Rousey has revealed the heartbreaking reason why she decided to walk away from her career as a professional wrestler and MMA fighter.

Once upon a time, Rousey was arguably the poster girl for women's combat sports after becoming the first woman to join the ranks of UFC and its inaugural bantamweight champion.

She was even name-checked in Demi Lovato's 2015 song 'Stars' and for a time seemed unbeatable.

However, the hype train would abruptly come to an end in 2016 after two back-to-back losses, which led to Rousey retiring from UFC and pivoting to wrestling.

She subsequently joined the ranks of WWE after the end of her MMA career, before seemingly giving up combat sports altogether in 2023.

Rousey's name was at one point synonymous with women's combat sports (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

So where is Rousey now and why did she decide to step away from fighting?

During a 2024 interview with People, the 38-year-old revealed that she made the decision to leave combat sports due to health reasons and explained that she'd hidden numerous 'concussions and neurological injuries' throughout her career.

"I just couldn't fight at that top level anymore, and I couldn't take those impacts," she explained, adding that her retirement had come at a time when she had 'never been stronger or faster, or had a better grasp of the game'.

Rousey continued: "You never know when you've had one hit too many until decades later, and I don't want to keep testing that."

This isn't the only time that Rousey has reflected on the impact of suffering from multiple concussions throughout her career either, opening up on the subject in her 2024 memoir Our Fight.

She also revealed in an interview with BBC Sport that she was likely concussed for most of her title defeat against Holly Holm.

Rousey during her title defeat to Holly Holm (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

"It's hard to look at footage of that match," she said, adding: "Because I can literally see in my eyes I'm suffering from a neurological injury decades in the making.

"It [ticks] me off when people see that and say, 'this is Ronda being outclassed'. That's me with my brain not properly working."

Since the end of her fighting career, Rousey now lives with her husband Travis Browne and their children.

She has also turned her attention to creative writing, telling People that she'd been working as an intern at Warner Bros in its story department.

"I've been writing screenplays and things to keep my mind in a positive place, and if I feel myself going somewhere negative, I'll consciously turn it towards something that I'm creatively working on," she said.

"It's just been a really positive force in my life."