Matt Grice, the UFC featherweight hospitalized earlier this month following a devastating car accident, has been taken off sedation medication and has begun breathing on his own, according to a report on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight.
Doctors removed Grice’s cranial pressure monitor, a device used to treat severe traumatic brain injuries, on Tuesday. According to Grice’s manager Daniel Rubenstein, the 32-year-old fighter has begun responding to verbal cues, displaying movement in his arms and legs and offering thumbs-up signals to his family.
Grice, a fulltime police officer and nine-year UFC veteran, was struck from behind at a red light on the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013 in Shawnee, OK. The force of the impact caused Grice’s vehicle to collide with the vehicle in front of him.
Grice underwent emergency brain surgery that same night.
Prior to the accident, Grice (15-5) was scheduled to fight Jeremy Larsen on October 19, 2013 at UFC 166. In February, the Oklahoma high school wrestling legend earned ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for his exhilarating, tooth-and-nail battle against Dennis Bermudez.
A donation fund set up by Grice’s family has thus far raised over $20,000.