Ronda Rousey Injures Hand, Announces She Needs Knee Surgery Following UFC 175
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey extended her undefeated winning streak to 10 on Saturday with a 16-second finish of Alexis Davis, but the 27-year-old will have to address some lingering injuries before stepping back in the cage again.
She needed nine stitches to close up a laceration on her right hand following her fourth title defense.
“It turns out that from the last two camps for UFC 168 and 170 I kept ripping my knuckle open, and just covering it up and hitting on it still, all I did was make sure it didn’t get infected. I guess I ended up developing a cyst under my knuckle. After the McMann fight, I should have taken it more seriously and gone in to the doctor and had it taken out,” she said during the UFC 175 post-fight press conference.
“I just kind of kept dismissing it, and I ended up ripping it open with that first overhand right, and I just ended up getting nine stitches in my hand. Hopefully the cyst is actually gone, but I have to go to the doctor to get it checked out and make sure,” added Rousey.
Along with having to address her injured hand, Rousey said she needs surgery on her right knee.
“With the knee surgery, it’s just something that’s more maintenance that I need to do. So it’s not really a major knee surgery at all. It’s just a scope. I literally walk out of there and (should) be 100-percent in two weeks after that one,” she explained.
“Right hand, right knee, but I’m left handed. So it’s all good.”
She’s had knee issues for over a decade, dating back to her teenage years.
“This has kind of been a whole life thing. I tore my ACL when I was 16. When I was doing judo, I was getting knee surgery pretty much every two years. And then when I started doing MMA, it actually healed a lot, and it hadn’t really been giving me too much trouble,” said “Rowdy.”
“When I did the Miesha (Tate) and (Sara) McMann fights back to back, I had put so much wear on it from not resting in between. With McMann, I had to do so much wrestling that my knee started to really act up. I rested after that and it started feeling better. I knew I had to get surgery, but it wasn’t really imminent. My knee is really stable. All the ligaments are fine, there’s just stuff floating around in there,” said the women’s bantamweight titleholder.
Rousey was planning to take a break following Saturday’s event and she’ll be spending that time recovering.
“It’s just one of those things that it’s annoying,” she said. “It’s something that I need to take care of. I can’t put it off forever, and I’d rather do it now instead of risking it getting worse.”
