Ronda Rousey believed for years that concussions had effectively ended her fighting career. Now, as she prepares for her return bout against Gina Carano on May 16, the former UFC bantamweight champion says a medical breakthrough has completely changed her understanding of her own situation. And surprisingly, she credits Dana White for helping make it all happen.

Speaking to Complex News ahead of her return, ‘Rowdy’ said that during her UFC career, she hid concussion-like symptoms because she was afraid of being pulled from competition.

“There were times where I was experiencing some symptoms and wouldn’t say anything because I didn’t want to be taken off,” she said. “I wanted to be able to keep going.

“But then, thanks to Dana, when I was talking about doing this fight, he sent me to the Cleveland Clinic to get checked out, and I was able to actually get a diagnosis from the head of the long-term neurological fighter study there, Dr. Bernick.”

Following years of brutal fights, knockout defeats to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, and rising concerns about long-term brain damage, Ronda Rousey retired from MMA, thinking that repeated concussions had permanently altered her health.

However, when she was tested by Dr. Charles Bernick, he discovered that her symptoms were not simply due to concussions but were also greatly linked to severe migraines being triggered more easily as a result of past head trauma.

“What happens is I get hit and lose big chunks of my vision, like someone took a picture of me,” she explained in the interview. “A lot of times, I have a hard time tracking moving objects or thinking clearly. He thought what was going on was that, because of the concussions, it became easier to trigger these migraines.

“They’re actually called ‘migraine aura’ when you lose chunks of your vision, and it’s caused by something called ‘cortical spreading depression,’ where your neurons get overly excited and depolarized in waves or something like that.”

What changed everything for Ronda Rousey was finally finding treatment. ‘Rowdy’ revealed that doctors have now prescribed preventative medicine for her to take before sparring or fighting.

“We were actually able to find a medication that helps me, that I can take preventatively before sparring and stuff like that,” she added. “It’s been absolutely life-changing for me.

“So if I take this medication ahead of time, then yeah, I’m not experiencing those auras anymore. I’m not getting hit and losing chunks of my vision.”

However, she can only use the medication twice each week, and for her much-awaited fight night with Gina Carano, only one dose would be sufficient. And after nearly a decade away from MMA, that breakthrough is a significant reason why Ronda Rousey feels physically and emotionally prepared to return to the cage, all thanks to Dana White’s help.

But while Ronda Rousey is thankful for the UFC CEO’s intervention ahead of her return, she does not feel the same way about the promotion’s CBO, Hunter Campbell, whom she labeled as a ‘chauvinist.’

Ronda Rousey goes off on Hunter Campbell for rejecting her comeback

That is what makes the situation around Ronda Rousey and the UFC so strange right now. On one hand, she openly expressed her gratitude to Dana White for helping her find treatment for her neurological issues that drove her to retirement; on the other hand, ‘Rowdy’ seems to have genuine hatred toward UFC executive Hunter Campbell for ruling out her return to the Octagon.

According to the 39-year-old, the UFC was her first choice when she wanted to return to MMA. She claimed that White favored the idea, but things changed when negotiations reached the Chief Business Officer. And, based on her recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, she still can’t get over how those conversations went.

“[Hunter Campbell] was just a f—– a—— about it,” Rousey said. “He was just being such a chauvinist p– and he was being so dismissive, just trying to get me and Gina to value ourselves less from the get-go and acting like this isn’t the greatest thing that’s fallen into his lap since he’s been there.

“He was like, ‘No, you guys are just so much older, and I just don’t know how it’s gonna do.’ I was like, ‘Who the f— is this guy?’ First of all, I didn’t even know who he was.”

In the end, due to her dispute with Hunter Campbell, the Dana White-led promotion passed on the comeback fight, allowing Jake Paul and his Most Valuable Promotions to land one of the biggest nostalgia fights MMA has seen in years.