Is it possible to be a UFC fighter without having brain damage at all ?

[GoatArtemLobov]

Is it actually possible to fight at the highest levels and still never get slept, concussed or at least sometimes have some headaches after hard sparring ?
Even a guy like GSP who is as careful as it gets when it comes to striking (by careful I doesn't mean that he is a coward or a boring fighter of course, just that he isn't a Gaethje type of fighter) ate about 800 punches to the head during his career, a probably 10 times more if you also count all the hard sparring sessions done in camp.
Even at amateur or at hobbyist levels, we for most of us had at least one little concussion or some headache from sparring, even in grappling sports (bumps to the head, headbutts and being slammed on your head by a retarded training Partner can happen).
So do you think it is possible or can you think of some guy who might not have any brain damage at all despite fighting at the highest levels ?
Maybe Khabib, but who knows what happens in training...

 

[Krixes]

Most of us here have been in 500+ street fights, and we show very little CTE.

 

[3879]

No.

 

[VinceArch]

I do think it is possible but the cases are probably slim.

 

[DS66]

 

[Poids Moyen]

 

[SalvadorAllende]

No. Unless you are a very very dominant wrestler. Khabib has taken little damage.

Colby and Kamarudeen take very little damage. Oddly enough the most damage they took was from Demian Maia LOL. I'm still expecting a double KO tho.

 

[BlameTheMedia]

depends on your genetics and the amount of damage you endure.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Uncle Creepy Ian McCall had him in all sort of troubles. He also got punched quite a bit in One FC.

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

No.

Even Khabib, who doesn't take any shots in fighting because he is so good at taking people down and who train mostly grappling his whole life ?
I mean his level of brain damage might be as low as it gets. As low as some average Joe who did a bit of judo and soccer as a teenager and sometimes fell on his head while biking as a child...

 

[Klaavical]

It's the sparring that will cumulatively damage the brain as well as the matches

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

No. Unless you are a very very dominant wrestler. Khabib has taken little damage.

Colby and Kamarudeen take very little damage. Oddly enough the most damage they took was from Demian Maia LOL. I'm still expecting a double KO tho.

I still can't Believe that, with all the training they are putting in, they never had at least one minor concussion or at least a knockdown during sparring, I mean even hobbyists sometimes get rocked...

 

[cunglaowins]

Most of us here have been in 500+ street fights, and we show very little CTE.

And have multiple PhDs on top of that

 

[gono btw]

Spoiler

 

[SalvadorAllende]

I still can't Believe that, with all the training they are putting in, they never had at least one minor concussion or at least a knockdown during sparring, I mean even hobbyists sometimes get rocked...

Agree.

I'm one of those who dismiss the damage done in fights as others think "wars" take years off careers. I'm pretty sure that 90% of damage happens in sparring.

 

[BoTyson]

Most of us here have been in 500+ street fights, and we show very little CTE.

Even after i stomped the shit out of you that time?

 

[Gangsters_Paradise]

Anytime you're getting punched in the head you're damaging your brain be it a small amount or getting a hemorrhagic stroke and going into medically induced coma. The difference is the kind of damage is it reversible brain damage or is it irreversible. Anytime you get a concussion there are brain cells that are lost and when they are lost they are gone forever they don't come back there is a certain plasticity to the brain so it can rewire itself through different pathways but when you get hit in the head over and over and over again concussive blows or sub concussive it's all adding up and the older you get the less you recover from any injury.

In boxing they are getting punched over and over then when they get knocked down they get a 10 count then get up and keep getting concussed after the first concussion which makes it much much worst, In mma at least there is a distance you can keep from getting punched over and over and you could always hit the floor and grapple whenever you feel like it but a lot of these guys are getting laid out cold with their heads slamming on the ground if you think they aren't getting brain damaged you're crazy. I myself have had a few concussions my last one from hard sparring where i came out with a black eye and got like flash of darkness from a shot to the top left side of the head. I still feel symptoms Post concussion syndrome and it's been 8 months pressure on the side head face feeling droopy on one side terrible short term memory mood swings etc. I remember it was much much worst in the first couple months I would get violent mood swings and felt like I just got out of a street fight.

 

[GoatArtemLobov]

Agree.

I'm one of those who dismiss the damage done in fights as others think "wars" take years off careers. I'm pretty sure that 90% of damage happens in sparring.

Completely agree.
I mean, from my own experience, I got one concussion from boxing (bad knockdown) and two or three times I came home with some headaches.
Even in grappling, I was twice very dizzy after eating a knee in bjj and getting slammed in wrestling.
So I had (very little but still) brain damage.
And I'm a Fucking hobbyist training four times a week for only 6 years, so it's impossible guys training full-time for decades have no brain damage at all.

 

[OneManOrgy]

Thing is also you don't have to get knocked out or even realize it after a blow to the head and you could have a mild concussion

 

[Mixfight]

Anytime you're getting punched in the head you're damaging your brain be it a small amount or getting a hemorrhagic stroke and going into medically induced coma. The difference is the kind of damage is it reversible brain damage or is it irreversible. Anytime you get a concussion there are brain cells that are lost and when they are lost they are gone forever they don't come back there is a certain plasticity to the brain so it can rewire itself through different pathways but when you get hit in the head over and over and over again concussive blows or sub concussive it's all adding up and the older you get the less you recover from any injury.

In boxing they are getting punched over and over then when they get knocked down they get a 10 count then get up and keep getting concussed after the first concussion which makes it much much worst, In mma at least there is a distance you can keep from getting punched over and over and you could always hit the floor and grapple whenever you feel like it but a lot of these guys are getting laid out cold with their heads slamming on the ground if you think they aren't getting brain damaged you're crazy. I myself have had a few concussions my last one from hard sparring where i came out with a black eye and got like flash of darkness from a shot to the top left side of the head. I still feel symptoms Post concussion syndrome and it's been 8 months pressure on the side head face feeling droopy on one side terrible short term memory mood swings etc. I remember it was much much worst in the first couple months I would get violent mood swings and felt like I just got out of a street fight.

You got that CTE dawg

 

[Krixes]

And have multiple PhDs on top of that

Many of my surgeon friends post here in their free time.

Even after i stomped the shit out of you that time?

You win some, you lose some but you live to fight another day