Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano will be required to undergo medical and neurological testing more extensive than what is required of all combat sports athletes ahead of their May 16 MMA comeback fight, and Rousey will be put through concussion battery testing, California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster told ESPN on Wednesday.
The fight between Rousey, a former UFC bantamweight champion, and fellow women’s MMA trailblazer Carano was announced Tuesday and will take place at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Rousey, 39, has not fought since 2016, and Carano, who will be 44 on fight night, last competed in 2009.
The concussion concern grew out of a Rousey appearance on Instagram Live two years ago while she was promoting the release of her memoir, “Our Fight.” She said she had a long history of concussions dating back to her time in judo, the sport in which she won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics. Rousey said she had kept her concussion history hidden from the UFC and regulators “because it would literally put a target on my head and I might not have been allowed to compete any farther.”
“We’re going to put her through neurological and concussion battery testing and make sure she’s OK,” Foster said. “We’re going to have our doctors take a look. The fighters are going to have to do a lot of medicals, both of ’em.”
The additional testing will be required of Carano as well because of her age and long inactivity. The California commission follows Association of Ringside Physicians recommendations for regulating fighters over age 40, which include a magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, electrocardiogram (EKG), cardiac testing, an exercise stress echocardiogram, neurocognitive testing, blood work, metabolic panel and ophthalmologic eye exam.
Foster did say that while the California commission has “just flat turned down a lot of fights over the years,” it did not turn down this one.
“As long as these women pass their medicals and pass all their neurological batteries and do the things they need to do,” Foster said, “there’s nothing wrong with this fight.”
