How do so many fighters sustain constant damage to the head and yet remain coherent and mentally well?

Look at how many hockey players and football players are forced into concussion protocols these days.

UFC fighters are likely concussing themselves multiple times a year. shit adds up eventually.
Some guys don't appear to show symptoms, but i'm sure more do than we realize and I bet they struggle with trying to reconcile it.

getting struck in the head for a living is terrible for you on several different levels.
 
fedorthegoat777 said:
You can take some damage and get a few concussions.

After a point, there are problems. You can't just keep getting your brain smashed around. Tony Ferguson is going to be one of those cases.
Click to expand...

Even with Tony, he is still coherent and able to think concisely. He doesn't seem to murmur or struggle to think.
 
usernamee said:
also we haven't really hit those years yet with MMA where we have an abundance of guys who had long MMA careers that are now in their 65-70s

it'll be interesting to see
Click to expand...

You know who amazes me, but is a boxer, is Julio Cesar Chavez. He had well over 100 fights, yet when I hear him interviewed he speaks so well like he doesn't have an ounce of brain damage from such a long career in boxing. It's freaky how some guys just don't seem to show signs of mental deterioration in their latter years. Sugar Ray Leonard is another. Even Mike Tyson seems to be well adjusted. The list goes on, even with boxers from the 70s/80s.
 
AzorAhai1 said:
Even with Tony, he is still coherent and able to think concisely. He doesn't seem to murmur or struggle to think.
Click to expand...
He says some crazy stuff, but that might not have to do with being punched in the head. .. .

He is a test case, has taken excessive abuse, has to catch up at some point.

It's like the alcoholic that gets passed out drunk every day, it eventually shows up.
 
Pequeño Corey said:
Yea Holloway stumbles for words and repeats himself a lot. Pretty sure he says "it is what it is" so much because he can't find the words to finish the sentence.
Click to expand...
Hahah, which is exactly why his glorified expression has always been shit to me.
 
I've really wondered if there's a genetic component.

Someone like Shane Carwin didn't take that much (JDS fight not withstanding) damage in his relatively short career. Dude was an engineer, so he's obviously a smart guy.

And he has self admitted major symptoms.

Whereas someone like Jeremy Horn with well over a HUNDRED fight sounds like a damn teacher.
 
Listen to Chuck 15 years ago. Listen to him today.
 
Overeem is the gold standard here, between MMA, KB, and hard sparring he’s been knocked unconscious (by heavyweights no less) into his 40’s. Horse meat and hormones for various 4 legged animals will leave you extremely articulate.
 
We see only 10% of what these guys suffer, I think. It's a world of pain.
 
AzorAhai1 said:
You know who amazes me, but is a boxer, is Julio Cesar Chavez. He had well over 100 fights, yet when I hear him interviewed he speaks so well like he doesn't have an ounce of brain damage from such a long career in boxing. It's freaky how some guys just don't seem to show signs of mental deterioration in their latter years. Sugar Ray Leonard is another. Even Mike Tyson seems to be well adjusted. The list goes on, even with boxers from the 70s/80s.
Click to expand...
"Even Mike Tyson seems to be well adjusted."

Was he ever well adjusted?

 
AzorAhai1 said:
For the most part, fighters remain healthy and well into their later years. Of course, there are outliers who end up with mental damage and go off the rails. However, how is it that so many fighters are able to sustain damage and remain mentally stable and well? For example, look at Poirier, Smith, Bisping, Paul Felder, Jim Miller, Cerrone, the list goes on. They are well spoken, seemingly intelligent, don't seem to have much issue with CTE, despite the wars and damage they've sustained.

Also, even though Max Holloway and Gaetjhe are well known for crowd pleasing styles, they both seem mentally all there, despite those wars and damage sustained. I'm just wondering why it is that many guys don't live with obvious brain damage from years of hard sparring and fights. Is it just luck? Is it a case of those that reach the top are there for a reason, and that reason is because they can give out and sustain more damage than most. Obviously, someone with very poor punch resistance will be found out far sooner than by the time they get the chance to the reach the UFC.
Click to expand...


Big thing is it will depend on the individual on haw fast and how severe the effects are.
 

How do so many fighters sustain constant damage to the head and yet remain coherent and mentally well?​

Click to expand...
Have you seen people these days? A fighter would have to be pretty fucked up to be noticed in the general distribution of mentally incoherent and unwell people.
 
There is no exact science behind the "chin" in combat sport. Often I find that such discussion about it end up making a bunch of assumption.
Did fighter x chin really crack or is he just getting slower with age? or fighting thougher opposition? I'm generally very skeptical of claims of how one particular fight "ruined" a fighter when often it can be explained by age or by a flaw in their game being exposed.
 
Nathan LaMontagne said:
I've really wondered if there's a genetic component.

Someone like Shane Carwin didn't take that much (JDS fight not withstanding) damage in his relatively short career. Dude was an engineer, so he's obviously a smart guy.

And he has self admitted major symptoms.

Whereas someone like Jeremy Horn with well over a HUNDRED fight sounds like a damn teacher.
Click to expand...
About Carwin, didn't he and Schaub talk about how they used to fuck each other up in sparring, which is where he probably took most of the damage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,280,386
Messages
58,279,576
Members
175,991
Latest member
OctaLOL

Share this page

Back
Top