(Everyone head over to Gary’s Twitter and wish him the best of luck.)
Some really sad news today, Potato Nation. It is being reported that none other than MMA/kickboxing legend and regular CP columnist Gary Goodridge has been diagnosed with early onset CTE/pugilistic dementia at the age of 46. Goodridge, who built a reputation for his hard hitting style and aggressive attack, has fought an incredible 84 times since beginning his professional career in 1996.
CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is brain damage that stems from repeated blows to the head, and is a common occurrence amongst boxers, football players, and hockey players for obvious reasons.
Though the outlook is grim for “Big Daddy,” Goodrige says he wouldn’t change a thing in hindsight. But perhaps a little surprising is the fact that he places most of the blame on his K1 career.
You get the news you just have to deal with it, live with it. There’s no treatment that goes along with it. There’s pills to make it slow down the process, but it’s inevitable.
I have no regrets. I love the way I live my life, I mean I would like to make little changes, but no, I have no regrets. I loved the way my life was, I lived a good life, and I’m happy with what I did.
(Everyone head over to Gary’s Twitter and wish him the best of luck.)
Some really sad news today, Potato Nation. It is being reported that none other than MMA/kickboxing legend and regular CP columnist Gary Goodridge has been diagnosed with early onset CTE/pugilistic dementia at the age of 46. Goodridge, who built a reputation for his hard hitting style and aggressive attack, has fought an incredible 84 times since beginning his professional career in 1996.
CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is brain damage that stems from repeated blows to the head, and is a common occurrence amongst boxers, football players, and hockey players for obvious reasons.
Though the outlook is grim for “Big Daddy,” Goodrige says he wouldn’t change a thing in hindsight. But perhaps a little surprising is the fact that he places most of the blame on his K1 career.
You get the news you just have to deal with it, live with it. There’s no treatment that goes along with it. There’s pills to make it slow down the process, but it’s inevitable.
I have no regrets. I love the way I live my life, I mean I would like to make little changes, but no, I have no regrets. I loved the way my life was, I lived a good life, and I’m happy with what I did.
I would like to share with people, but I think most of my damage came from K-1. MMA really wasn’t an issue because there’s hardly any shots to the head. 90-percent of my injuries came from K-1, where there’s nothing but head trauma, head injuries over and over again.
Goodridge recently released an autobiography titled Gatekeeper, and plans on traveling to Australia to perform a kickboxing seminar in the near future. We’d like to wish Gary the best of luck, and will keep you informed as more details become available.
We’ve added a highlight reel of Mr. Goodridge, courtesy of Sherdog, below.
(The good old days — when men were men and briefs were shiny.)
Hello to all of my Cage Potato friends and thanks again for your interest and questions. It’s been a busy 2011 so far and things are only looking better from here. Thank you for the wonderful night before UFC 129 in Toronto. To those who missed it, there was a Cage Potato: Banned party that week and I had the opportunity to meet many loyal readers and Cage Potato “Big Wigs.” As you may know, I’ve reached a different stage in my career and I hope to provide you with more honest insights into many of the things that I’ve learned. I’m pleased to be black by popular demand. Ask away for my next column. Also, add me on Facebook, Twitter, and my blog www.bigdaddyfightteam.com.
All the best and Happy Humping,
Gary Goodridge
‘Bob Villa’ asks: How do you feel about all the lay and pray we’ve been subjected to lately? What do you think about guys like GSP who seem to fight not to lose and never go for the finish?
You’re asking the wrong guy because I always went for the finish. I think just lying on top of somebody is just crap and ridiculous. However, when fighters start doing that they pay the price because the promotions are not going to bring you back. You already know I like Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben; I also like a lot of the U.K. fighters like Dan Hardy because they always provide entertaining fights.
GSP is a different animal though. He is a champion. He doesn’t have to finish these guys. They have to finish GSP. His job is to keep his belt any way that he can because the belt means prestige and, more importantly, money. If I were him I would use every fibre in my body to walk away with the belt. I never won a championship beyond the International Vale Tudo Championship so I was never in a position to have to try and retain my belt. I was the guy who tried to shatter the myths of others fighters as champions.
People need to understand that guys like GSP are facing the top competition in the world every fight. There is no room for a mistake. It may not look like he’s doing much but trust me, he is.
‘bgoldstein’ asks: At PRIDE 11, you gave Yoshiaki Yatsu one of the most savage beatings I’ve ever seen in my life. Why did PRIDE book a rematch of that fight the next year? Did you feel bad accepting it?
(The good old days — when men were men and briefs were shiny.)
Hello to all of my Cage Potato friends and thanks again for your interest and questions. It’s been a busy 2011 so far and things are only looking better from here. Thank you for the wonderful night before UFC 129 in Toronto. To those who missed it, there was a Cage Potato: Banned party that week and I had the opportunity to meet many loyal readers and Cage Potato “Big Wigs.” As you may know, I’ve reached a different stage in my career and I hope to provide you with more honest insights into many of the things that I’ve learned. I’m pleased to be black by popular demand. Ask away for my next column. Also, add me on Facebook, Twitter, and my blog www.bigdaddyfightteam.com.
All the best and Happy Humping,
Gary Goodridge
‘Bob Villa’ asks: How do you feel about all the lay and pray we’ve been subjected to lately? What do you think about guys like GSP who seem to fight not to lose and never go for the finish?
You’re asking the wrong guy because I always went for the finish. I think just lying on top of somebody is just crap and ridiculous. However, when fighters start doing that they pay the price because the promotions are not going to bring you back. You already know I like Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben; I also like a lot of the U.K. fighters like Dan Hardy because they always provide entertaining fights.
GSP is a different animal though. He is a champion. He doesn’t have to finish these guys. They have to finish GSP. His job is to keep his belt any way that he can because the belt means prestige and, more importantly, money. If I were him I would use every fibre in my body to walk away with the belt. I never won a championship beyond the International Vale Tudo Championship so I was never in a position to have to try and retain my belt. I was the guy who tried to shatter the myths of others fighters as champions.
People need to understand that guys like GSP are facing the top competition in the world every fight. There is no room for a mistake. It may not look like he’s doing much but trust me, he is.
‘bgoldstein’ asks: At PRIDE 11, you gave Yoshiaki Yatsu one of the most savage beatings I’ve ever seen in my life. Why did PRIDE book a rematch of that fight the next year? Did you feel bad accepting it?
No, I didn’t feel bad about accepting it at all. Why would I feel bad? If he wanted to take the fight again, who am I to turn him down? I will say that nobody can ever question Yatsu’s heart. In fact, it you ever see a Yatsu watch next to a Timex, pick the Yatsu because guaranteed it’ll take a licking and keep on ticking.
(Goodridge vs. Yatsu, 10/31/00. The brutal finish begins around the 9:40 mark.)
‘RWilsonR’ asks: What injury have you sustained that has hurt the worst? Randy Couture said he has never felt pain like a broken orbital bone. Do you have an especially painful injury story?
I have never felt pain like I did when Musashi gave me my first taste of a legitimate leg kick. If you watch the fight you can see that I can’t even stand. My nerves weren’t used to receiving those types of strikes and I didn’t know how to defend against them. After that fight, I went straight to the dressing room and cried for a long time. I didn’t even know why I was crying because it didn’t stop the pain. But I had never felt anything like the leg kicks in K-1.
‘NotReadyStatus’ asks: I have seen you listed as repping Canada and/or Trinidad-Tobago. Which Country do you feel is more “Big Daddy’s”?
This is an odd question for me because I don’t consider myself very patriotic. I say I’m Canadian though because I’ve been here for over 40 years of my life. Canada is my home. All of my family is here expect one of my sisters who lives in Jamaica. My mother is very patriotic. She chose to bring her family here for a better life. I know she’s similar to other immigrants in that she sees herself as more Canadian than many people who were born here. Out of all of the places in the world, this is where she chose to come. As far as I’m concerned, promoters can say I’m from wherever they want me to be from. That type of stuff never bothered me.
‘RWilsonR’ (again) asks: What’s the story behind your fight with Mario Neto? It says you lost via Submission (No Apparent Reason) on Sherdog.
I have a hard time remembering this fight and a lot of people tend to bring it up. All I can say is that I was exhausted. It was early in my career and I didn’t know how to train properly. People ask me how I didn’t know that I needed cardio…I just didn’t know. None of us knew anything. At that point I didn’t have the mental fortitude that fighters need in order to surpass that point of exhaustion. I was exhausted and I couldn’t defend myself so I didn’t want to stay in there and take more damage.
‘LOKI’ asks: Did you ever turn down a fight for any reason that in retrospect you wish you had taken?
No I never turned down any fights in my life. Only when I got married. Take that as you will
