Earlier this week MMA legend Wanderlei Silva admitted that he was suffering from eight out of 10 concussion symptoms after attending a lecture on the subject.
With ‘The Axe Murderer’ still technically fighting for Bellator, the nation’s most progressive athletic commission in terms of MMA understandably wants to look into that. The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) is reportedly taking Silva’s statements “very, very seriously.” Speaking up on the subject to MMAjunkie, CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster said they were going to follow up with Wand:
“We’re going to have to make sure he’s neurologically fit to go. If fighters say things like this in the press, we have to follow up. He’s welcome to fight here if he’s medically cleared.”
Three years ago, the CSAC began neurologically testing fighters with a system called C3 Logix. The data compiled using iPads tracks potential concussions and overall brain function in fighters.
Silva was last seen fighting longtime rival Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at October’s Bellator 206. He was medically cleared to fight and granted a one-year license by the NSAC for the bout. Jackson finished Silva via TKO in the second round of what was their fourth fight against one another. It was his seventh knockout loss, yet he welcomed
Silva has long been known and respected for his violent, brawling style of fighting. In his early Pride days, he ran roughshod over most of his competition with the all-out style. He’s also a longtime member of the famed Chute Boxe team, who have been known to have legendary sparring wars inside the gym.
Advice For Young Fighters
But if he were to leave young up-and-coming fighters with any advice, he would tell them not to go all-out in training and take repeated blows to the head:
“If (I were) to leave a tip … it is not to get beat up every day,” he said. “Those who have young students, do not let the student get very punched in the head. Have the right time to do a stronger training, but it cannot be an everyday thing.”
Sage advice from an MMA great with two decades in the sport. It’s wisdom from a man who has lived it and is beginning to show the effects of long years of hard sparring. Many fighters have begun to take it easier in terms of that archaic sort of training in the hopes of avoiding the situation Silva finds himself in. For some, like former UFC champion Robbie Lawler, they believe it’s added years to their careers.
Silva said he’s working as a volunteer with a Canadian supplement company making a product designed to reduce head trauma. He plans on donating his brain to science after his death for the study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease that can only be diagnosed post-mortem.
But regardless of his current struggles with concussions, “The Axe Murderer” isn’t done yet. He’s teased a rematch with longtime rival Vitor Belfort, hoping ‘The Phenom’ will come out of retirement to face him in the Bellator cage.
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