Tag: concussions

Eddie Alvarez Discusses His Concussion: “It Feels Like a Squeezing of My Brain” [SCARY]


(A career’s worth of Fight of the Year candidates might be taking their toll on the lightweight veteran. / Photo via MMAWeekly)

Amid all the chaos and gallows humor surrounding Bellator’s wounded pay-per-view offering this coming weekend, one important point is being overlooked — Eddie Alvarez got hit in the head so hard that he had to pull out of a fight. Concussions are a common job-hazard for professional fighters, who take much more cumulative abuse during training than they do in their actual fights. But it’s still relatively rare for a concussion to be so debilitating that it forces a fighter to the sidelines.

On Monday, Alvarez went on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour to explain exactly what caused the concussion — which he sustained a couple weeks ago while training at the Blackzilians gym in Boca Raton, Florida — and what it feels like to deal with such a serious injury:

“It was during one of [coach] Kenny Monday’s wrestling practices. Me and Abel Trujillo were wrestling. I shot in, he defended like with a hip check, sort of hit me, and I just remember feeling like it was a significant blow. Well, we just kept wrestling and kept going, and there was a couple of exchanges later, I had a separate partner. I had a single-leg, and they pulled out of the single-leg and their heel hit me underneath my chin, and that was only about two or three minutes later after I shot on Abel. So, it was a series of significant hits that I took…

Kenny Monday’s wrestling practice is pretty intense. You normally feel exhausted and dizzy after regardless, so I didn’t know whether just to take it that I was feeling the symptoms because I took a hard shot or I was just tired and exhausted from practice.


(A career’s worth of Fight of the Year candidates might be taking their toll on the lightweight veteran. / Photo via MMAWeekly)

Amid all the chaos and gallows humor surrounding Bellator’s wounded pay-per-view offering this coming weekend, one important point is being overlooked — Eddie Alvarez got hit in the head so hard that he had to pull out of a fight. Concussions are a common job-hazard for professional fighters, who take much more cumulative abuse during training than they do in their actual fights. But it’s still relatively rare for a concussion to be so debilitating that it forces a fighter to the sidelines.

On Monday, Alvarez went on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour to explain exactly what caused the concussion — which he sustained a couple weeks ago while training at the Blackzilians gym in Boca Raton, Florida — and what it feels like to deal with such a serious injury:

“It was during one of [coach] Kenny Monday’s wrestling practices. Me and Abel Trujillo were wrestling. I shot in, he defended like with a hip check, sort of hit me, and I just remember feeling like it was a significant blow. Well, we just kept wrestling and kept going, and there was a couple of exchanges later, I had a separate partner. I had a single-leg, and they pulled out of the single-leg and their heel hit me underneath my chin, and that was only about two or three minutes later after I shot on Abel. So, it was a series of significant hits that I took…

Kenny Monday’s wrestling practice is pretty intense. You normally feel exhausted and dizzy after regardless, so I didn’t know whether just to take it that I was feeling the symptoms because I took a hard shot or I was just tired and exhausted from practice.

“So, I went home, I rested, and when I came in the next day my head was feeling pressure when I got like really light impact. And then the following day, Friday, it got even worse. So I needed to call [my manager] Glenn [Robinson] and let him know what was going on. That’s sort of what happened…

“I’ve been hit harder. I got knocked out before the last Chandler fight, probably five weeks before the fight I got knocked out. All I did was rest. I kind of took off live training for like two weeks and then I went right back into it and fought Mike. So, concussions and getting hit hard is not something that’s new to me. These particular symptoms were all new to me, I had never felt these before, so I got a little afraid of what was going on.”

Alvarez says he plans to return to normal training in a matter of weeks, though symptoms from the concussion still linger:

“When I get into the training room, any kind of impact training, even when I shadow box — if I throw my own punches, just the stopping and the jolting motion — it really puts pressure on my brain. Really, if I can describe it, it feels like my brain was like sort of bruised. It feels like a squeezing of my brain. My doctor says it was vestibular system that was sort of out of whack, which is the system that controls my head and my eye movement.

“So whenever I would try to do this motion, or if something happened really fast to my left or right side and I’d try to look, I would get a super, really like excruciating pain in my brain. So, I was probably foolish for thinking I could fight. But I was already too invested in my training camp to just say no. It was stupid to me to think about when I look back in retrospect, but I was very invested in the fight and I felt like I was going to be able to get past it.”

A complete break from training is apparently not an option for Alvarez, although maybe it should be. We wish Eddie the best in his recovery.

If TJ Grant Is Still Suffering Concussion Symptoms, Why Would Anybody Hope for His Return?


(Photo via Getty)

It’s hard not to root for TJ Grant. Here’s a guy who reached the highest level of the sport through talent and hard work alone. He never trash-talked his way into big fights. He wasn’t a good-looking poster boy who was given an easy road by promoters. He’s not known for flashy kicks and sharp grooming. He entered what is arguably the most competitive division in all of mixed martial arts, beat the crap out of five consecutive opponents, and managed to stay humble.

Following his savage first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at UFC 160, Grant was promised a lightweight title shot against then-champ Benson Henderson, but withdrew from the fight due to a concussion suffered during a grappling session, of all things. Anthony Pettis took his spot and made the most of the opportunity. And though we all assumed that Grant would get the first crack at Pettis’s belt, Grant couldn’t commit to a fight because of lingering concussion symptoms.

So here we are in November, four months after Grant first made his concussion public, and he still hasn’t completely cleared the cobwebs. As reported on last night’s episode of UFC Tonight, Grant’s health remains less than 100%, and he’s unsure when he’ll be able to return to competition. MMAFighting passes along more details:


(Photo via Getty)

It’s hard not to root for TJ Grant. Here’s a guy who reached the highest level of the sport through talent and hard work alone. He never trash-talked his way into big fights. He wasn’t a good-looking poster boy who was given an easy road by promoters. He’s not known for flashy kicks and sharp grooming. He entered what is arguably the most competitive division in all of mixed martial arts, beat the crap out of five consecutive opponents, and managed to stay humble.

Following his savage first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at UFC 160, Grant was promised a lightweight title shot against then-champ Benson Henderson, but  withdrew from the fight due to a concussion suffered during a grappling session, of all things. Anthony Pettis took his spot and made the most of the opportunity. And though we all assumed that Grant would get the first crack at Pettis’s belt, Grant couldn’t commit to a fight because of lingering concussion symptoms.

So here we are in November, four months after Grant first made his concussion public, and he still hasn’t completely cleared the cobwebs. As reported on last night’s episode of UFC Tonight, Grant’s health remains less than 100%, and he’s unsure when he’ll be able to return to competition. MMAFighting passes along more details:

Grant is targeting a tentative date of Christmas, after which he hopes to resume training, although that timetable is far from certain. Of late Grant has focused on increasing his heart rate when exercising and not exerting himself too far…

While Grant admits that the uncertainty of his situation has been frustrating, he believes it’s only a matter of time before he fights again. Though when he does, it’s likely he’ll have to re-earn his spot at the front of the line.

“He’s in limbo,” UFC President Dana White recently said of Grant. “He might come back and have to fight another fight. We’ve got to keep this thing rolling.”

I’m sure some fans will see this news and lament the fact that the greatest opportunity of Grant’s life was robbed from him by a training injury. But I think Grant’s situation raises a different, more important point: How long should a fighter suffer symptoms of a concussion before he retires out of concern for his health? I’m sure that he doesn’t want to admit it, and the UFC won’t want to make a big deal of it, but TJ Grant has suffered serious brain trauma. It’s not the kind of thing where he’ll wake up one day and be 100% recovered. For now on, every sparring session and every fight will put his long-term health further at risk.

Maybe it’s the job of the athletic commissions, and maybe its the responsibility of the UFC, but somebody should step in and tell Grant that continuing an MMA career is not in his best interest. The reality is, Grant himself probably won’t walk away willingly. He’s a proud competitor who climbed and climbed until he was one rung away from the top of the ladder. He’s not going to quit now.

As fans, we want to see the good guy get rewarded for his hard work and sacrifice. But throwing support behind TJ Grant’s comeback makes me feel uneasy. If Grant eventually returns to the cage and wins a few fights, is that a triumph? Is that a feel-good story, when it flies in the face of all medical and allegorical evidence that it’s a terrible idea?

TJ Grant has spent four months dealing with the fallout from a concussion. That should be of far greater concern to fans, the media, the UFC — and Grant himself — than the date of his next fight.

(BG)

If MMA Is About Respect, Why Have We Turned Against Georges St. Pierre?


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

By Seth Falvo

My first thought following the main event of UFC 167 was that Georges St. Pierre had a concussion. Granted, “hack journalist” is a far cry from doctor, but he was displaying symptoms that should make any sports fan concerned. He lost track of what round it was, he had trouble forming words, and the completely vacant look in his eyes was disturbing — even for a guy as stoic as GSP.

If this thought occurred to Dana White and the media members in attendance, they did a damn fine job of hiding it. You know what happened by now: White claimed St. Pierre “owed” everyone an immediate rematch, the media attempted to steer Georges St. Pierre away from talking about the signs of brain damage he has been experiencing — despite St. Pierre’s best attempts to do otherwise — and White eventually talked to the champ in private before downplaying everything that St. Pierre admitted to experiencing as much as possible.

As Stand and Bang accurately wrote, “White’s behavior [was] so transparently morally repugnant that there’s no reason to spend time pedantically analyzing it.” He wanted to pressure GSP back into the cage as quickly as possible, because the longer the champion has to reflect upon the damage that he’s done to himself, the less likely he is to return to the sport. Yet there are actually fans — and plenty of them — who managed to take the bait. There are fans who buy the ideas that St. Pierre somehow “owes” it to anyone to accept a rematch against Johny Hendricks, that he’s obligated to return to the cage immediately, that Dana White’s dangerously-capitalistic treatment of his most influential champion is completely acceptable.

And let’s not forget the most disgusting part about this: These fans are delusional enough to say with a straight face that MMA is about “respect.”


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

By Seth Falvo

My first thought following the main event of UFC 167 was that Georges St. Pierre had a concussion. Granted, “hack journalist” is a far cry from doctor, but he was displaying symptoms that should make any sports fan concerned. He lost track of what round it was, he had trouble forming words, and the completely vacant look in his eyes was disturbing — even for a guy as stoic as GSP.

If this thought occurred to Dana White and the media members in attendance, they did a damn fine job of hiding it. You know what happened by now: White claimed St. Pierre “owed” everyone an immediate rematch, the media attempted to steer Georges St. Pierre away from talking about the signs of brain damage he has been experiencing — despite St. Pierre’s best attempts to do otherwise — and White eventually talked to the champ in private before downplaying everything that St. Pierre admitted to experiencing as much as possible.

As Stand and Bang accurately wrote, “White’s behavior [was] so transparently morally repugnant that there’s no reason to spend time pedantically analyzing it.” He wanted to pressure GSP back into the cage as quickly as possible, because the longer the champion has to reflect upon the damage that he’s done to himself, the less likely he is to return to the sport. Yet there are actually fans — and plenty of them — who managed to take the bait. There are fans who buy the ideas that St. Pierre somehow “owes” it to anyone to accept a rematch against Johny Hendricks, that he’s obligated to return to the cage immediately, that Dana White’s dangerously-capitalistic treatment of his most influential champion is completely acceptable.

And let’s not forget the most disgusting part about this: These fans are delusional enough to say with a straight face that MMA is about “respect.”

I’m really not sure how we ever managed to accept the “mixed martial arts is about respect” fallacy in the first place; pretending that the earliest MMA events were complex rituals of respect — as opposed to sporting events and entertainment — is adorably delusional. Perhaps it caught on due to the revisionist history that all martial arts suffer from, perhaps due to a misunderstanding of Bushido. Or perhaps it’s just reframing caused by the cognitive dissonance required to care about the people you enjoy watching injure themselves. Regardless of how it got here, it’s at the point where even fighters like Houston Alexander believe that MMA is about respect, which is laughable on its own, and downright dangerous in the aftermath of UFC 167.

No human being “owes” someone harm to their own mind and body. That I have to explain this to people who claim that their sport is built around respect is more than a little disturbing, and their rationalizations only paint a scarier picture. There’s the argument that Georges St. Pierre “chose to be a fighter,” as if he also chose to give up his right to retire whenever he wants (which he was hinting at well before Saturday night) and his right to look out for his own health when he made that decision. Others are slightly more humane, and instead argue that he simply “owes” it to us to get back in the cage within the next few months, because second-impact syndrome and brain damage are things that should be taken as lightly as possible. I’m sure the medical community will be thrilled to learn that.

Respect does not come with conditions. You can’t only respect someone when they do what you want them to. If you do, you aren’t “respecting” them, you’re manipulating them, and that’s exactly what abusive spouses do to their victims. “Georges, you know I respect you, baby. It’s just that I love watching you fight soooo much and you made me soooo mad by wanting to take time off that I didn’t have a choice but to publicly humiliate you like that. Please don’t leave me, please give me (or in this case, Johny) one more chance.”

I’m not saying that I don’t think Hendricks was robbed on Saturday night. And I’m also not saying that I wouldn’t watch a rematch. But I am saying that if Georges St. Pierre decides to stick around for one more fight, I want him to do so only after he feels he’s had enough time to recover from Saturday night and make an educated decision. He’s built his entire life around being the ideal Zuffa employee and perfect ambassador for our sport, despite never needing us as much as we’ve needed him. If you think this sport is about respect, you’ll wait patiently, too.

Bellator News Roundup: Cheick Kongo’s Debut Opponent Announced, Why Joe Warren Was Medically Ineligible for Saturday’s Card, And The Arm Collector Retires


(Step 1: Pretend that you’ve suddenly gone blind. Step 2: Hope that Cheick Kongo takes pity on you. Step 3: ???. Step 4: Profit. / Mark Godbeer photo via Sherdog)

I’m sure Jared won’t be reading this post, but for those of you who still care about Bellator, listen up:

— New Bellator heavyweight/recent UFC castoff Cheick Kongo has gotten his first booking in the circular cage. Bellator has confirmed that Kongo will meet Mark Godbeer at Bellator 101, September 27th in Portland. Yes, “Mark Godbeer” sounds like a made-up name. But apparently he’s a real guy with a punny nickname and an 8-1 record earned on the UK circuit.

The 6’4″ 29-year-old last competed at BAMMA 9 in March 2012, where he scored a corner-stoppage TKO victory against Catalin Zmarandescu. Godbeer was scheduled to make his Bellator debut against Ron Sparks last October, but a back injury put him out of action. None of Godbeer’s fights have lasted past the second round. Alright, so he’s not world-class, but Bellator could have done worse for Kongo’s first victim Bellator. Then again, those 18 months of ring rust won’t be doing the Brit any favors.

— We now have an actual explanation for Joe Warren being declared medically unfit to compete at Saturday’s Bellator 98 card against Nick Kirk. According to an MMAFighting report, Warren was recently knocked out during sparring, and Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations commissioner Mike Mazzulli canceled the bout after seeing the medical report. Though Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney wouldn’t confirm the reason behind Warren’s withdrawal from this weekend’s event, he did say that the Fight Master coach could be off suspension within 2-3 weeks.

Knockouts during MMA training sessions are an unfortunately common occurrence — especially when puppies are on the line — but the fact that this happened so close to the event should raise concerns. Was this just a freak accident? Considering the brutal KO’s that Warren has previously suffered against Alexis Vila and Pat Curran, you have to wonder if his chin (and brain) are starting to deteriorate to the point where he can’t even make it through a friendly sparring session without getting shut off.


(Step 1: Pretend that you’ve suddenly gone blind. Step 2: Hope that Cheick Kongo takes pity on you. Step 3: ???. Step 4: Profit. / Mark Godbeer photo via Sherdog)

I’m sure Jared won’t be reading this post, but for those of you who still care about Bellator, listen up:

— New Bellator heavyweight/recent UFC castoff Cheick Kongo has gotten his first booking in the circular cage. Bellator has confirmed that Kongo will meet Mark Godbeer at Bellator 101, September 27th in Portland. Yes, “Mark Godbeer” sounds like a made-up name. But apparently he’s a real guy with a punny nickname and an 8-1 record earned on the UK circuit.

The 6’4″ 29-year-old last competed at BAMMA 9 in March 2012, where he scored a corner-stoppage TKO victory against Catalin Zmarandescu. Godbeer was scheduled to make his Bellator debut against Ron Sparks last October, but a back injury put him out of action. None of Godbeer’s fights have lasted past the second round. Alright, so he’s not world-class, but Bellator could have done worse for Kongo’s first victim Bellator. Then again, those 18 months of ring rust won’t be doing the Brit any favors.

— We now have an actual explanation for Joe Warren being declared medically unfit to compete at Saturday’s Bellator 98 card against Nick Kirk. According to an MMAFighting report, Warren was recently knocked out during sparring, and Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations commissioner Mike Mazzulli canceled the bout after seeing the medical report. Though Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney wouldn’t confirm the reason behind Warren’s withdrawal from this weekend’s event, he did say that the Fight Master coach could be off suspension within 2-3 weeks.

Knockouts during MMA training sessions are an unfortunately common occurrence — especially when puppies are on the line — but the fact that this happened so close to the event should raise concerns. Was this just a freak accident? Considering the brutal KO’s that Warren has previously suffered against Alexis Vila and Pat Curran, you have to wonder if his chin (and brain) are starting to deteriorate to the point where he can’t even make it through a friendly sparring session without getting shut off.

— And finally, one of MMA’s greatest one-trick ponies has called it a day. Following his TKO loss to undefeated prospect Jason Butcher at Bellator 98 Saturday, Brazilian middleweight Giva “The Arm Collector” Santana has retired from competition at the age of 41. Santana leaves behind an 18-3 record, with 13 of those wins by armbar.

“As time goes by, you start to feel things more and more until you feel it’s time to stop,” Santana said after the fight. “After training for years, the body starts to complain about the injuries that pile up. I told everyone I was fine for this fight, but actually I had an injured arm and ribcage from sparring in Rio de Janeiro. This rib injury, especially, really affected my training. But it was an accident. I thought I broke a rib, but gladly that wasn’t the case. It was the cartilage. These things happen. When I came back from Rio, I tried to continue training but I couldn’t all I wanted…

“I wish to serve as an example,” he said. “I want to be a good example for those kids learning the sport. If they see something in my game they like, by all means, use it. What doesn’t work so well, they don’t have to use. I also wish to be an example of good diet, health and longevity.”

Update: TJ Grant Claims He *Wasn’t* Paid Off by the UFC, So Let’s All Stop Talking About That, Okay?


(Props: @TJ_Grant)

Judging from the immediate reaction to last night’s news that TJ Grant has withdrawn from his title fight against Benson Henderson, a lot of you seem to feel that Grant’s injury is somewhat less than legitimate. As the conspiracy theory goes, the UFC recognized that Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis would do much better business than Henderson vs. TJ Grant, and paid off Grant to fake an injury. (Who knows, maybe Pettis’s knee injury was bullshit as well?)

So let’s pump the brakes on this speculation right now. According to TJ Grant last night, the lightweight contender is recovering from a concussion suffered while grappling — an invisible injury, but still a real injury — and the UFC did not, and could not, pay him to give up his title shot. Okay? Can we all move on with our lives now? Oh, if only.

Here’s the deal: I actually believe that Grant’s not the kind of person who would sell the title shot he worked so hard for, but the almost universally-skeptical reaction that this situation produced tells us a lot about the UFC’s public perception — namely, that the promotion is a shady outfit that would pay its fighters to lie in order to set up more profitable fights.


(Props: @TJ_Grant)

Judging from the immediate reaction to last night’s news that TJ Grant has withdrawn from his title fight against Benson Henderson, a lot of you seem to feel that Grant’s injury is somewhat less than legitimate. As the conspiracy theory goes, the UFC recognized that Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis would do much better business than Henderson vs. TJ Grant, and paid off Grant to fake an injury. (Who knows, maybe Pettis’s knee injury was bullshit as well?)

So let’s pump the brakes on this speculation right now. According to TJ Grant last night, the lightweight contender is recovering from a concussion suffered while grappling — an invisible injury, but still a real injury — and the UFC did not, and could not, pay him to give up his title shot. Okay? Can we all move on with our lives now? Oh, if only.

Here’s the deal: I actually believe that Grant’s not the kind of person who would sell the title shot he worked so hard for, but the almost universally-skeptical reaction that this situation produced tells us a lot about the UFC’s public perception — namely, that the promotion is a shady outfit that would pay its fighters to lie in order to set up more profitable fights.

The UFC and TJ Grant have every right to be offended by this suggestion. Unfortunately, a century’s worth of dirty-dealings in the fight business have trained fans to expect the worst when things work out a little too conveniently for a promoter. It’s especially unfortunate for TJ Grant, a humble, hard-working guy who has been fielding some rather nasty accusations since last night, and may be hearing about this for a long time. That’s the reality. But since the UFC is an organization that has always valued secrecy in its business dealings, perceptions of unethical behavior will always linger among MMA’s more imaginative fans.

The bottom line is this: You can all feel free to call this a “work,” as long as you acknowledge that you have no actual proof to back that opinion up.

(BG)