Do knee injuries end a fighters prime? (In general)

[Dan Torrance]

I was under the impression it was but kept hearing about these athletes returning and it never made sense until I learned more about stem cells.

I think with stem cells and possibly surgery it might not be as big as an issue as it once was.

 

[laleggenda27]

Every person and situation is different. And every recovery is different. Two people can have the same injury and same surgery, but have completely different outcomes.

 

[billz2k]

knee injuries fuck up any type of athletes prime

 

[HatKick]

It's a pretty big deal, as are achilles ruptures. I watched NBA for about 10 years and it's crazy how many great players suffer a knee or ankle injury and are never quite the same. Derrick Rose being a famous example. But then you have some players like Russel Westbrook and Steph Curry who came back better than ever. You can't say for sure.

 

[xentreos]

Ferguson was in a training camp 9 months after tearing his ACL

Lcl

 

[xentreos]

It's a pretty big deal, as are achilles ruptures. I watched NBA for about 10 years and it's crazy how many great players suffer a knee or ankle injury and are never quite the same. Derrick Rose being a famous example. But then you have some players like Russel Westbrook and Steph Curry who came back better than ever after serious knee/ankle injuries. You can't say for sure.

Why you gotta mention rose like that?

Rose is the Shogun rua of nba for those who don't know basketball. Literally proved he was the best player in the world at a super young age and then tore his knees up and while still showing his skills were elite, he never returned to championship form. Derrick is still a very good player almost identical to Shogun in how he adapted his game to compensate for his reduced ability.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Depends on the type of injury and how bad it is. A lot of fighters try and adapt by changing their style up

Before GSP had an serious knee injury, GSP used to explode with doubles but by the end of his career he started shooting from the inside with singles.

 

[HatKick]

Why you gotta mention rose like that?

Rose is the Shogun rua of nba for those who don't know basketball. Literally proved he was the best player in the world at a super young age and then tore his knees up and while still showing his skills were elite, he never returned to championship form. Derrick is still a very good player almost identical to Shogun in how he adapted his game to compensate for his reduced ability.

Didn't mean no disrespect. I agree with what you said about Rose. Shout out to another legend Grant Hill who had a great career on the Suns post career altering injuries.

 

[Mavrilicious]

I knew Khabib was injury prone earlier in his ufc run but had no idea he damaged his knee so badly

Herniated discs and torn acl

 

[Apollo33]

ACL recovery time is not like the olden days. Surgery and better rehab method these days means your recovery time becomes much shorter than before.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

@Askren’s chin appears to essentially just be doing the same thing @Ackmed did with Makhachev forever lol


I didn't see the same Tony Ferguson prior to his injury when he fought Pettis.

Looked the same to me. Unorthodox fighter that survived getting blasted by Pettis until he gassed

Why you gotta mention rose like that?

Rose is the Shogun rua of nba for those who don't know basketball. Literally proved he was the best player in the world at a super young age and then tore his knees up and while still showing his skills were elite, he never returned to championship form. Derrick is still a very good player almost identical to Shogun in how he adapted his game to compensate for his reduced ability.

Great comparison. Both young years that adjusted their games to still be dominant after catastrophic injuries.

 

[chinarice]

Looked the same to me. Unorthodox fighter that survived getting blasted by Pettis until he gassed

Great comparison. Both young years that adjusted their games to still be dominant after catastrophic injuries.

Shogun was literally like half the fighter he was after his knees were shot.... lol just because he won the belt doesn't mean he was as good as he used to be...

Tony, shogun, GSP all looked different in there afrer their surgeries.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

Why you gotta mention rose like that?

Rose is the Shogun rua of nba for those who don't know basketball. Literally proved he was the best player in the world at a super young age and then tore his knees up and while still showing his skills were elite, he never returned to championship form. Derrick is still a very good player almost identical to Shogun in how he adapted his game to compensate for his reduced ability.

 

[aus101]

Depends upon the sport. I know a girl who tore her acl playing netball but has now made the Olympic rowing team. MMA though is more dynamic so could be tougher to remain at the elite level after such an injury.

 

[moreorless87]

It's a pretty big deal, as are achilles ruptures. I watched NBA for about 10 years and it's crazy how many great players suffer a knee or ankle injury and are never quite the same. Derrick Rose being a famous example. But then you have some players like Russel Westbrook and Steph Curry who came back better than ever. You can't say for sure.

Tends to be the same in football/soccer, ligament damage isnt always going to have a negative effect and it does seem to be becoming less serious but still its the most likely injury to damage someones career.

In Shogun's case of course he actually had 3 ACL surgeries and it was the third that really seemed to make the difference, he was never as agile again post Machida and didnt have the same cardio.

 

[DestinedAussie]

Like any sport, your legs are essential for success in MMA. With damaged knees you can’t run the same, you can be explosive to the same degree, your kicking can be diminished etc.
There are plenty examples of fighters not being the same following such injuries ie shogun or tony Ferguson.

Knowing this, is there any fighters who have returned from a major knee/leg injury and still performed as good as they once did. The closest example to this is Gsp who dominated the division after an ACL injury however he was less explosive than before. His success most likely is an outlier due to his unprecedented skill.

So any examples of fighters who came back from knee or leg injuries as good as they were before?

This can be anything from career ending to full recovery. I think as time goes on and medical procedures get better the recoveries seem to be better.

I always think to 2 class NBA examples. Grant Hill who looked but gone but actually became a durable player into ages most players can't play at (due to high skill level I assume more than athletic ability) and Brandon Roy who was had the potential to be an all time great and everytime he tried to come back he failed.

 

[Franklin U.]

Depends - on the nature of injury . Also ,unfortunately, knee injuries happen in this sport and it depends on the individual. Gsp got wrecked by Serra and he became quite the cage wrestler. Gsp takes an acl injury and not only do we hear about it but his army of fans have a built in excuse for everytime the Gsp slips on a banana peel.
Then you have " fighters" like the mousasi and the shogun who get there knees torn up, wait to heal ( in mousasi s case , fought with the tear) and take care of business....... and we dont hear about it every day.

Seriously though - depends on nature of injury.I dont know why I'm responding to this gsp fan who continues to post 44 topics a month about his beloved gsp.

 

[Elvis.]

Kid Yamamoto ( Rip ) was an absolute monster until he blew his knee out
Never even close to the same fighter afterwards

 

[Oilcitymo]

Knee surgeries and ACL are not like days of past.
Athletes come back better after surgery

GSP and Shogun stated their knees felt the best they ever had after surgery

I've had ACL replacement surgery, trained pretty hard for a year, stepped out to play some ball hockey, and subsequently tore all the way through my meniscus first shift out. Despite having rehabbed properly, I still had a general feeling of a lack of stability.

The reality is, it does NOT come back stronger. A fighter might make a training adjustment to help keep the support muscles stronger than before, but if they did the same training before a tear, they certainly would be more stable than with a reconstructed ACL.

Most people, athletes included don't ever get back their full range of motion/comfort.

 

[xentreos]

This can be anything from career ending to full recovery. I think as time goes on and medical procedures get better the recoveries seem to be better.

I always think to 2 class NBA examples. Grant Hill who looked but gone but actually became a durable player into ages most players can't play at (due to high skill level I assume more than athletic ability) and Brandon Roy who was had the potential to be an all time great and everytime he tried to come back he failed.

Ugh Brandon Roy too( and Greg Oden for that matter) could just never heal from those injuries! This man could jump out of the gym and poof all gone overnight.