CTE in MMA - What It Is And Why We Need to Talk About It
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is one of if not the most dangerous aspect of combat and contact sports. a whopping 99% of NFL players and 90% of boxers suffer from this degenerative form of brain damage. MMA being such a new sport, there's a lack of scientific research on MMA athletes and the dangers they face. That along with many other factors makes CTE a commonly overlooked or at least undersold risk in the sport we love.
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References
CTE risk, severity increases with years playing American football www.sciencedai... (accessed Aug 14, 2020).
Jesse Mez, M. D. Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Football Players jamanetwork.co... (accessed Aug 14, 2020).
Sources:
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#MMA #CTE #UFC
I wanted to become an MMA fighter or boxer. But after looking into CTE I decided I will just train for fun.
Good choice
Promoters just ain't gonna give a fuck
Craziest part is sparring for decad s can give you cte...
@@yeshuasage3724 they only care about money.
@@otalaedwin 100% bro you need to be smart with sparring and your style of fighting. I know guys in the gym who go all out and come forward with their hands down. It’s just dumb.
@@bonkgaming4796 super dumb. I started boxing when i was 8 and i’m a huge advocate for combat sports. But you have to be smart and have people you can trust around to look out for you when you aren’t looking out for yourself.
I find it increasingly difficult to enjoy the sport knowing I am watching people destroy their brains a little more with each strike taken.
@@insomniad2514 That's true.
@@insomniad2514 no they don't, because the research was not well-known when they signed up, and CTE ENCROACHES. It is the SUB-CONCUSSIVE injuries that will affect them 15 years later. So, given this information, how can you possibly claim that they are aware?? They might be aware now, but it's too late for most. I trained it, but was not aware. Luckily, I simply wasn't young enough or good enough to become professional because it is a very romantic sport. The inducements are significant. Therefore, I have to concur with Paul Fancy's comment, and aver that your comment is misleading, factually untrue and dangerous.
@@Jamie-js3qw so you think the people getting punched in the head for a living don't know what they signed up for? Moron.
I don't think everyone fully understands the consequenses as I really doubt that this is much discussed in the sport itself, some maybe try to ignore it that it wont happen to them. Then there is of course the pressure from family, friends, fans to fight in, you don't just want to quit without a real reason. And then specially if it's your income.
@@GunsNRoses1123 You make some interesting points.
The effect of these dramatic weight cuts also has an effect on shrinking the brain *from dehydration, and making further brain trauma an avoidable problem in the cage. This also really needs to be studied further. Also, how about the damage to the other organs these weight cuts inflict?
Good point. I always though it was pointless. It just hurts the performance of the fighters and even if they gain some advantage it kind of comes at the expense of the show and their health
I'm glad that one fc is actually preventing it by doing hydration tests on weigh in day to reduce this problem. UFC and bellator also need to take same step to ensure better health for fighters if they aren't covering their insurance etc.
@@erwinmoreno23 yea and its not even that much weight. Mighty Mouse doesnt cut and does amazing. Thai guys I trained with would frequently give up 60-100lbs in pro fights. If you are actually that good, seriously fkkin 3-10lb difference isnt going to save the other guy. Even 20 is nothing.
weigh in should be on fight day, i believe thats the only way to avoid cutting.
This is the biggest thing that worries me about fighting myself
Me too.
@djdonniewoo Nah man. The fact that cte in fighters is unavoidable is scary a bit. But you gotta sacrifice your brain for the unmeasurable knowledge and experience.
Quit while your brain is okay now. If you dont then you’re definitely gonna suffer consequences.
@@petarvasiljevic8764 that's why I've stuck with grappling
@@otalaedwin Grappling alone isn't enough in order to be a perfect fighter. In my Judo school, we also do Boxing, Kickboxing and Full Contact Jujutsu. Our sensei is a very open minded person.
I just wish UFC fighters received better compensation for the risk they take.
100% agree. They deserve way more money.
Only the top of the card on ppv gets reasonable compensation imo. Not everyone can make the big bucks and the UFC struggled for a long time but I’m pretty sure Dana is holding out some.
Dana pays less money to most fighters so there is motivation to fight hard. In boxing you get paid real good even if your aren’t really popular, so you wouldn’t really want to fight hard
not just fighters in the ufc but all mma fighters in an organisation. there are many scummy managements that milk these young athletes dry
@@moronicpancake8291 that’s a garbage excuse for keeping all the money for himself. Other sports athletes make 50% of the profit on average. Mmaists need a union.
I sadly agree that CTE is an unfortunate and likely underdiagnosed side effect of MMA. Personally I like Max Holloway's approach of not sparring hard or getting concussed in his training camps. Dude is still an elite MMA fighter, former champion and he has never been KO'd or TKO'd. He might be on to something.
And he has never been knocked down let alone tko'd or ko'd
Lol you guys are wrong here 😂
@@zanetruesdale7263then explain what is right
@@Silent43192I think he’s saying that they are wrong because despite max’s belief he still takes a lot of hard clean shots which as seen in the video is way worse than being knocked out because it’s constant damage but not enough to be concussed
His approach really does seem like the safest approach. You can’t avoid getting hit in the head during competition so it’s best to avoid it at all cost during sparring. I have a feeling we’ll see more guys take this approach in the future and max will likely remain highly functional well into his old age, at least I hope.
This the one aspect of training that legitimately worries me having done multiple combat sports over the past decade. I don’t train at a pro level or anything and only compete occasionally but it makes you wonder just how much the bumps are adding up even in the dojo.
I quit martial arts... I'm never going back again, I'll just watch others do it
If you aren't going to be a pro fighter, spar light.
@@TheNamesDitto tbh even pro fighters should spar light. Khabib & GSP say the same thing, & that sparring should be similar to play fighting in a way. By doing this, technique can be worked on exclusively when it comes to practicing striking
@@Gabriel-el3hn im sorry, I had feces for lunch
That's why I went from a kid training Thai boxing since I was 6 thought I'll try MMA got a thrown around like a empty tracksuit... But a judo blackbelt purple belt in bjj I then got into judo and bjj nogi submission wrestling some sambo but I had to kids they got put into judo at 4 and 5 now there 10 and 13 and I'm glad they can defend themselves and have competed all over and my oldest is a two time national champion and in the development squad so his training is free but I don't have to see them get punched or kicked in the head
This video needed to be made
Thank you! We thought so too
Same here.
Homeless already at 11, you might guess I fought a lot as a kid. Later I started training Muy Thai which I did for 11 years... for years I've dealt with memory loss. Sometimes I'll lose minutes or hours and have even lost days, I just won't remember it at all. Scariest thing I'm feeling right now is the fact there's no way to test for CTE - doubt the tests would be available here in Philippines even if they did exist.
To all you young guys out there, if you are reading this. Have fun and do what you want, but be careful. I laughed at all the old timers who told me these things when I was younger (46 now). A big part of me wishes I had listened as I even had to leave my home in search of a place to live where it never gets before 70 as I just can't take the pain anything below that, tons of nerve damage sucks. As it was told to me by the doctor who diagnosed my nerve damage, "When you sustain traumatic injuries, such as crushing your hand, there are things inside of you getting damaged other than just bone."
Eat Clean
Drink Lots of Water
Stay In Shape
Read
I'm sorry to hear man, best of luck to you with your future
I hope your doing well man
@PoesiaDesafinada-gx7wo I don't know if I'm any of those things, my friend. But, it's very nice to hear I may have helped someone, because that is a special thing. Thank you for your response and may peace be your journey!
💎👣
Concussion Awareness training is required for coaches by USA JUDO, USA BOXING, & USA WRESTLING as part of their Coaches Certification training.
Exactly, crazy that MMA doesn't have those requirements yet
how in the world you get CTA doing wrestling? they're fine
@@juzrhyme712 weight cuts and slams are a bad combination.
@@juzrhyme712 weight cuts and getting slammed on your head lol
@@juzrhyme712 def seen some wrestling KOs in my time, gotten rocked myself from some takedowns
7:58 “Warrior Mentlity” shows Mario Yamasaki
I see what you did there XD
🤣🤣🤣🤣
If he dies, he dies...
Lmao all these clips could've just been Yamasaki's best moments
😂😂😂
Man it sucks getting older.. i hate how fast time goes by
Ikr bro
It’s crazy
Fr
U must've hit 30 recently huh? Lmao.
this is why i like to train light when sparring, like we dont hit each other hard, not at the head anyway. it's all controlled and worked to preserve health. I think wonderboy trains this way as well, and recent sparring vids tells that McGregor has started to as well
@@ZyroSugar yeah. Just that hard sparring gets u used to the intensity and expectation of hard hits. But long term, detrimental to health
just go hard on the body and legs and soft on the head thats way much better
@@epicmatrix2208 I do that. I focus more on technique first
@@ZyroSugar ikr he used to just walk out there and put people to sleep instantly without getting hit once
Touch sparring
This is why, as a long term Nate Diaz fan, I hope I never see him fight again. His symptoms are way worse than Ali's before his last fight.
Ik man Him and Tony ferguson need to stop fighting man I love both of them but their going to have a lot of problems when their older
@@domvlogs3299 I'm especially worried for Tony in particular, the man seems to have a few screws loose if you look at his personal life. He's had issues with mental health as well on top of his rather weird personality. And he's taken SO MUCH damage in his fights, especially the Gaethje fight which took his soul. I fear in 10-20 years time Tony could do something that will get him in very serious legal trouble because of all the brain damage he took mixed in with the mental health problems.
@@madgavin7568 For sure. He took many bad hits in the fight with Gaethje.
@@brido88 That fight was the beginning of the end for Tony; never the same again. He aged 10 years in the space of 20 or so minutes.
@@madgavin7568 damn
I boxed for about two months many years ago. One night in sparring, I got matched with a much superior athlete. He punched the crap out of me. I was sore, had headaches and was in a bad mood for a few days.
I never went back. Took up BJJ instead. Sometimes you dont need science to tell you something is bad for you.
This is why i no longer spar. I just train (just turned 50) for fitness now.
Im already struggling to remember things as it is
Wise choice.
Sorry to hear that but I'm happy you made that decision. Please inform as many practitioners as you can. You could save someone's life with your knowledge and experience on this topic.
You can probably do sparring as long as it’s light. It’s the hard sparring that is just dumb
@@Rokaize yeah but a few hits to the head get harder and harder
@@Rokaize I go to a gym where they advocate hard sparring. They don’t force anyone to, but for me as an individual who is just there to learn how to fight for self defense and confidence. Hard sparring is not worth it to me. I do it at most twice a month.
Theres one serious thing that was not in this video why CTE is more prominent in today's era of combat sports compared to back then (please keep in mind Ali's damage was caused by numerous blows to the back of the head . Punches to the back of the head back then was not strictly enforced like it is today . Ali's opponents would purposely do that to him since he was hard to hit , it was easier to hit him in a clinch and wherever at that which resulting to shots behind the head. ) Most issues are derived from weight cutting, fighters who make extreme weight cuts or just have trouble in general making that weight class run at risk of Brain damage as they are not only depleting the fluids in their body but the fluids in their brain as well. If too much is depleted it can result in serious injuries upon contact.
For actual examples of Old timers being interviewed that fought during the Golden era in the 1930s-1950s where extreme levels of punishment was put on the fighters watch the HBO Greatest knockouts doc from the late 1980s. These fighters interviewed are well into their 70s some in their 80s and still sharp as a tack.
I don't believe weight cut is a factor as 99% of retired nfl football players have cte and they don't do any weight cutting
No, the fluid balance in your brain is sort of independent from the rest of your body. It’s extremely well regulated and moderate dehydration won’t affect your brain or surrounding fluids
Those were the fighters that made it to old age...probably the smarter fighters to begin with that took less punishment to the skull. There's no real difference between being knocked out in the early 20th century to being knocked out now.
Bodybuilders go to the same dehydration process (or even worse, because they go to stage and do their poses routine while dehydrated), and the vast majority of them don't get CTE (maybe heart problema because of roids)
@ninjaninja9954 I would argue that NFL Is even more brutal than boxing, kick boxing or MMA. Having a 100+ kg dude wearing the equivalent of and armour running against you full speed to tackle you Is way more dangerous for your brain health than reciving kick and punches.
Used to spar without helmets for a couple years, got dazed a few times, never knocked out or knocked down, but once I took a hit that caught me off guard, and that night almost felt like my brain was bleeding.. I regretted not fighting competitively, but now I’m happy I got out of it, although I loved the training and felt incredibly strong and fit.
how would you describe the feeling? sounds pretty intense
@Rico 👁👁 think of having a really bad bruise, but on your brain, if you take a straight shot, the back of your head will feel it
@Rico 👁👁 think of having a really bad bruise, but on your brain, if you take a straight shot, the back of your head will feel it
Damn, I want to meet the 1% of NFL players who were professional football players and don’t have any CTE. Genetics?
@Michael Brown it is extremely real number probably around 40 to 50 percent
@Michael Brown the one percent or the 99%?
check Harry Carson
surpisingly well spoken
Kickers and punters
@@Ms.Fowlbwahhh maybe some other special teams specialists as well since they’re on the field so much less.
I did bjj for awhile and tried to pick up boxing later on. I met an old boxing trainer who said some things that really steered me in the right direction. He said if I’m already in bjj, I should focus on that. He doesn’t train anyone that hasn’t been at it for a long time and advises anyone new to not even start. He said if he could go back, he’d learn something other than boxing to stay fit and make a living. He didn’t know what horse he was riding when he started and it cost him his mind. People don’t mind an old man with a mangled body but people can’t stand an old man with a mangled brain. He said he donated his brain to a terrible sport at a young age. He said anyone in his gym already did the same and their brains are all going to be shot when they are as old as he is. Bunch of sad shit. We talked for about 10 minutes. By the end of the conversation, I was able to see exactly what he was talking about. So glad I met him. I quit before I started.
Technical training and light sparring does not make you demented, but taking a lot of hard sparring session is not a good deal in the long run...
Educate people, and then let them make their own choices and suffer their own consequences..
That's how it should be in a free world!
You're right
You're a phoney , a big fat PHONEY
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
Seriously. People should be allowed to fight to the death if they really wanted to and had informed consent
I agree but promotors should also be somewhat accountable too. There is no way on earth Diego Sanchez should ever be taking head shots ever again. He can do Flo grappling or something but no more MMA for that dude, he needs to be protected from himself!
for me, after I do a light spar, I will not take any contact for a week at least. after a hard spar, I won't take any contact for at least a month, maybe more depending on how bad I feel after the sparring. same for after a fight. my grandfather was a pro boxer and I saw how bad his brain function was toward the end of his life. I don't want to end up like him. I minimize all the contact I take so that I can avoid head injuries as much as possible, especially since ive already had multiple concussions and have already been knocked out
This is quite true, for coaches, they need to be fully aware of CTE, it should be mandatory in every contact sport. Plus there seems to be some research in mice that can reverse early CTE signs
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
@@dhuss14 might be interesting, sure, I take a lot of supliments for my brain but do tell
@@dhuss14 great comment, I'll keep this in mind
what research?
What if Max Holloway watched this before his fight agaisnt Calvin. Just subbed to your channel.
Thank you!
Gary Goodridge and Spencer Fisher are prime examples of CTE in mma and both are UFC vets. They are out there... it's just that we don't hear about them as much.
Killed me watching Peter Aerts recently. Pretty much all the Dutch K1 folk as well.
@@Dad_Lyon are them affected? Let's consider that the Dutch school uses hard sparring, almost a real fight.
@@CarloBtt that hard sparring is the theory why so many have obvious CTE signs. I liked hard sparring, glad I stopped before too many hard head shots.
Stephan bonnar too
Chuck Liddel and nam phan are also showing signs now
That mike perry scream in your intro is hilarious hahha
I only started doing BJJ recently but I had several concussions as a child from accidents and I noticed memory problems and brain fog a lot. This had me worried before but now even more. Great video and thank you for talking about this topic. I hope for the best for all of us.
Hey bro dont worry bjj doesnt have that high a risk it's not even mentioned in any videos about CTE just do a granny roll properly and watch your head and ears for cauli flower ear.
Rhode definitely are warning signs, if I was you I definitely would quit any sports where there will be risk of hits towards your head, even mild ones. There are other sports and the risk seems too big imo but it's obviously your brain and choice, maybe to you it's worth it bit at least look up all the information about the sport and the risks to know better.
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
@@dhuss14 interesting
If you are doing BJJ correctly there should be almost zero chance of getting brain damage. Keep it playfull!
This will get buried. UA-cam takes sponsors from nfl,ufc,boxing etc. Ty for this
Light sparring is much better than hard sparring imo, hard sparring makes fighters much more prone to injuries and is much more tiring while light sparring is safer and is much more technical.
4:24 Dude says “we haven’t heard about or seen an MMA fighter who has CTE”
He obviously hasn’t heard of Big Daddy Goodrich. I know this video is 5 months old but we also now unfortunately have another casualty. Spencer “The King” Fisher
I suspect Ken Shamrock has it as well. And possibly BJ Penn.
@@Thor-Orion Fedor Emilanenko too. I have seen some interview about him and his eyes sometimes out of control. It's so scary. I don't think it's worth it. They can probably fighting maximum at age of 40 and then they have to live rest of their life with damaged brain. Most of them they need to find a job. I don't think they can get a decent job with that brain. Someone is lucky,but most of them definitely not.
Has he heard Tito Ortiz trying to put a sentence together? The guy is a potato
Lots of CTE denial in MMA, especially about 10 years ago.
I compete in mma and thaiboxing I hope I dont develop is terrible disease but it's a risk we take
Stay safe 🙏🏼
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
Gary goodridge has advanced cte and dementia. He's the first but clearly not the last early ufc legend to have it. These guys fought many times a night often.
It's gonna be Scary when the shamrocks and shit start developing it.
Im studying biomedical science. This is a great video man. Well done
Appreciate the love!
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
i could be wrong but i don't think cte itself is necessarily a big deal. they did a study and found that even kids develop it pretty early on just from highschool football n stuff. but the risk is always there for it to become a much bigger issue for certain athletes. also i'm pretty sure ali got like parkinsons or something, not sure why he's in the video
Somebody Tag RODTANG 🤷🏾♂️
Fighters when they're young refuse to think about the risks long-term. It's only when the roar of the crowd fades and they are alone with their family and they are hearing things that aren't there, they are depressed, suffering from mood swings and intrusive thoughts that they realize it's too late. Unlike a knee, there is no rehab for your brain damage. Dementia is forever and will lead to death. Choose wisely.
I don't know what kinds of mental gymnastics one must exert to even consider preaching that there's no risk of CTE in MMA.
Big Boo-boos are no laughing matter guys!
in all seriousness, extremely scary stuff. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
The sheer fact that once a successful MMA star gets knocked out and then continues to get knocked out after each fight must be proof enough that’s there’s irreparable damage being done. They used to say how hard Mark Hunts chin was but then he went on a series of devastating losses, one of which had 300 successful shots against him.
Tony ferguson after justin
MMA is still a young game. In the next decade will start seeing the punch drunk fighters more and more compared to boxing. People say it's now a much more boring sport than it used to be but boxers are now much more self aware. I think MMA is a denial phase of CTE like football and boxing used to have.
This why i like Dagestan fighters style it may be khabib or islam and some other fighters their style may seem boring but it is wayy safer than the style of let’s sat justin gaethje
It's crazy seeing this ,yet Floyd Mayweather has been criticized about his style of fighting everytime saying it's boring, but in actuality, he's the one who has to endure the hits, not anyone else, and he barely got touched which is what should be done. In every style of combat, the name of the game should be to hit and not get hit. In the end, you'll have your health and piece of mind.....and I do mean piece of mind!😁
Yap I used hate the way Floyd fought and his attitude but as I got older I realized why he did it and he's certainly earned my respect. He's the boxing GOAT imo
He's a horrible person (as most fighters seem to be), but he's definitely one of the best boxers ever.
@@T1Oracle unfortunate that usually top fighters are those with a very sick and sadistic personality.
Thank you for a valuable video. Would be nice if you could do a follow up video with treatment for CTE and whether there's any good life habits against CTE
Appreciate the love! We try and stick to MMA cause we aren't medical experts so we wouldn't want to release a video without truly understanding how to help people who suffer from CTE. This can be very dangerous if we put out misinformation.
Idk if you can really treat cte
@@MMAAccess thank you for your swift reply. True, misleading information nowadays are truly dangerous.(Fake News and all that) anyways I hope these types of videos would raise some awareness in the MMA community.
No cure currently exists for CTE.[28] Treatment is supportive as with other forms of dementia.[29] Those with CTE-related symptoms may receive medication and non-medication related treatments.[30]
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
I laugh at people who think MMA wont give you brain damage over time , literally taking blows to the head as much as they do in training and fighting will take its toll on you no matter what
The Brain is such a fragile and amazing part of us. MMA is AMAZING, but God damn the aftermath of competeing is scary.
One day during a sparring session I took a hard jab and thought yeah I like that. I left the gym never to return.
I assume people watching MMA know what they getting, as do the fighters, however, when I see a fighter fall down trembling and continue to receive head blows I just cringe at the damage. The knock out represents, among other things, a disconnect or severance within the central nervous system from the brain. It is temporary, but for that brief moment these grown men are as helpless as newborn babies and it makes me a bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, what are you going to do with the format? Change the rules? No I think not.
You should be uncomfortable. Everyone should. Damn the format.
There's nothing sporting about fighting for a career and wailing on someone that can't get a defense up.
But calling it a sport certainly sanitizes what's actually going on and helps everyone rationalize it and carry on as if everything was cool. It's a form of denial.
@@chris2790 You said it perfectly.
Unfortunately the problem won't decline, it will get worse. Promoters, coaches, fans, and fighters are still under the delusion that the brain damage happens when they're old. No it doesn't, it happens every single time the brain gets shaken. You just don't see it, but that debt is going to come back plus interest.
4 years HS football, 1 year boxing, and 2 years Karate. Ive been done with contact sports for 10 years now but definitely got loss of concentration these days. I'm a senior engineer and it worries every now and then.
10 yers of boxing, ive noticed sevre, los of focus, and mnt form of prablems.
Get yourselves checked out bros🙏 If it's detected early there's a chance of reversing it.
Those sitting around all day or night addicted to social medias have develop or worsen their ADHD. Your case might not even be CTE. Might also depend on the individual. Some got thicker skulls than others. One could have a contact sport as their job and not develop CTE. One could spar lightly every weekend and develop CTE.
I've met a few people over the years with worse symptoms and yeah... probably some light effects of CTE. There are time where I don't grasp two or three seconds of events. I'm not particularly worried, but it's part of who I am.
@@chanting_germ. Concur. I accepted it. Just learning to take it easy when I get heated for little reason. Appreciate it yall!
This is why muay thai gyms spar really light
All MMA organizations should put an end to the follow up knock out punch, to the first Knock out punch. An automatic three to five second pause should be initiated by the ref, a quick determination to either allow the fight to continue or declare a knock out. To allow an unconscious fighter to be further brutalized, while being totally unprotected, is irresponsible by all parties involved. Ask the ref. Ask the fighters who are still fighting, that have taken that second unconscious shot. Bisbing or Henderson both come to mind. Ive seen them both do it to each other. In the heat of the fight, the adrenalin behind the second shot can be focused much more intensely than the first punch.
I’ve seen limits on fights proposed as a possible solution. As in what if only 30 fights are allowed per fighter?
Knockout limits as well. If a fighter is knocked out 3 or 4 or 5 times total then they face mandatory retirement.
mandatory retirement is fucked up
@@nothydropump845 So is crippling brain damage. Dude, look at Liddell. That’s not something that anyone should be ok with
@@Rokaize A reason a lot of these fighters (like liddell) get (very bad) CTE is because they dont quit at their best, but this is the fighters choice right?
@@nothydropump845 That’s just not the case. Being hit in the head and knocked unconscious causes brain damage. It just does. You’d have to be intentionally ignoring this for you to make that statement.
All sorts of fighters have issues with it long before their career starts going downhill.
@@Rokaize alright bro what im saying is that the longer a fighter goes on -> the more damage he accumulates -> more headtrauma -> worse CTE , furthermore i feel like it should always be a fighters free choice, since its their job you know
You absolutely have to have training partners you can trust and that are intelligent enough to understand what happens if you spar too hard all the time. Back when I started fighting people sparred as if we were in the middle of Madison square garden fighting for hundreds of thousands of dollars. People just had all out pissing matches. Things seem different now. People train smarter and get great results. Look at Max Holloway. But for sure there are still so many toxic ego driven gyms out there. It's the nature of the beast. Be smart. Train with intelligent people and not a bunch of goons. Glta 😎
I remember watching UFC 2 or 3 and telling a friend of mine in about 25 years people are going to start coming up brain-damaged.
Wanderlei Silva, Nick Diaz, Alistair overeem, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, nogueira bros, etc.
Damn near the whole mma hall of fame roster will have cte. It will be a real ugly sight for mma fans
Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
I didnt knew it was THAT common. :/
Its more common than you think. Around 6% of the population of America or ~ 1968000 people show signs of CTE. Im doing neuroscience, researched a lot into cte and can tell you a) its a lot more common than you think heck our parents probably most likely have some sort of cte, its caused by repetitive head hits happened to me many times, wouldnt be surprised if i have some level of cte as we speak, after hits throughout childhood, shit ton of concussions sparring muay thai incidents, although we largely do spar smart., b) using protocols that maximise brain blood flow, tau protein flushing, oxygenated blood, low inflammation, high omega 3 it can be reversed. I want to get this optimistic message out there. DM me i can send you protocols like i have done to many others. www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/a-powerful-protocol-proven-to-help-reverse-brain-damage.
I know that obviously CTE exists in MMA, but I genuinely think boxing is the worse, then football, then MMA.
In a boxing fight there can be around 1,000 punches thrown, most of them to to head.
You can get dropped like 3 times a RD and get back up.
In MMA however, you have grappling, kicks to the leg or body, clinching, and or ground and pound shots which do not generate as much power as standing shots.
Plus, in MMA, once dropped it’s usually over and most MMA KO’s are TKO’s and are fully conscious and cognizant after said TKO. You don’t see flash KO’s like in boxing(as much.)
Plus, the force generated from. A boxer with huge gloves vs someone who doesn’t only fine tune their punches, is astronomical. You can not hit near as hard with smaller gloves or your hand will break.
Football is worse because they go all out w tackles in practice and you have huge men tackling each other generating the same force as a small car hitting a wall. This causes the brain and head to shift and snap around.
TL;DR, out of boxing, football and MMA, MMA is the LEAST likely to have CTE .
For sure, boxing and football have much higher rates. For MMA, it's been around for such a small amount of time we just don't know the severity yet. It may not be as high, but we just want all practitioners to stay safe and take care of their health.
Football hasn't had the all-out-tackle style of practice since the 80s-90s. Nowadays the practices look more like drill runs with pretty light contact rather than old school collisions
Well the studies of CTE in NFL players Brains suggests that what you are saying would be wrong, they found CTE in a 21 yr. old brain that never had a concussion, just the continous blows to the head caused the damage and it accumulated over time.
@MCB wail Boxing is arguably worse for your brain than MMA is. Given the large gloves, punchers can throw as hard as possible without breaking their hand. This allows for a greater impact upon one's skull, leading to a higher chance of concussions. This isn't the case in MMA, where the small gloves mean punchers have to throw with less power, or they'll break their hand. Also, boxing allows one to get back up several times in a fight, even if they have already sustained concussive trauma to the brain. In MMA, there is no count. You get knocked out quickly without the chance to recover and absorb more damage. Also, tomato cans exist in MMA as well. Yes, you could make the case for kicks to the head are more dangerous, but it's much more rare in MMA than a knockdown is in boxing.
@MCB wail Boxing gloves = more damage to brain. Standing 8 counts, counts in general = more damage to brain.
Floyd is rare, boxers take heavier shots.
Everyone knew boxers were getting brain damage since forever, but no one seemed to care when it was boxers who had to hang up the gloves because they could barely pronounce their own names by 40 yo. The long 12 rounds with the thicker gloves actually do more damage to the brain over time than fighting with 4 oz gloves or bare knuckles.
The brain floats in the CSF and that provides shock absorption.
If that fluid is reduced due to dehydration or the brain swells due to hits and shaking then the cushion is lost and the brain hits the inside of the skull.
The brain can take the first hit but the whiplash motion is too much.
I think I took damage riding dirt bikes even without crashing.
The g outs in the dunes after a night of partying makes my head hurt just thinking about it.
A neck cracky got me out of rolling and training hard not the smacky but there's lots that can go wrong.
Stay hydrated and if you get headache or blurred vision stop.
Take a week off.
An old guy told me...
If I knew I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself.
The 99% does not concern living players as CTE is not possible to diagnose in a living patient. What the medical paper actually talks about is the percentage of CTE cases in deceased players.
percentage of CTE case in deceased players whose brains were provided for testing. It’s a smaller subset of deceased players and one with a selection bias issue that would necessarily skew the numbers.
One move in the right direction would be to have a centralised boxing authority that would oversee matchups. At the moment boxing is literally being run by promoters and sports streaming platforms who manipulate the boxing sanctioning organisations and as a result fighters aren't matched properly. The norm is to match a more marketable fighter with a lesser opponent or a fighter well past his prime rather than against a fighter of equal ranking or ability. This often results in mismatches where the opponent is at the receiving end of a concussion.
I already know people like Wanderlei Silva and Shogun Rua are gonna come out later in life with CTE , the Chutebox academy literally knocked each other out on a daily basis
I’m 14 and I wanted to go pro but I think that I’ll just do amateur jiu jitsu and kickboxing competitions and then joim go to college or something and then train for fun
Same i will also do some amateurs in mma and mostly light spar and i will keep training but smartly
Diego Sanchez man :/
What's wrong with him?
@@coroso136 he is clearly displaying signs of CTE, because his fighting style is so aggressive and dangerous, he suffered lots of trauma then most, same with Diaz Brothers, Mark Hunt etc
@@umaransari9765 yeah Justin Gaethje and Cowboy will end up the same way. A lot of the really entertaining stand 'n' bang type fighters will suffer from this Edit: Don't forget Tony Ferguson
@@hellowang74 The way Gaethje just dismantled Ferguson's face was horrifying.
@@andrewtaylor2377 watching Ferguson shake his head at the end of that fight was sketchy. That was clearly his brain tapping out.
It's more of an issue with the oldschool guy's who came up with the hard sparring and gym wars.They're more aware now of thêse issues and have also realized that going 40% or whatever while focusing on technique,timing,accuracy etc.ya know the things that actually matter have made them much better fighters and more capable of ko'ing their opponent in the fight anyway.If you do get ko'd ọut thêre now or take alot of damage thêy're going to suspend you accordingly and they're improving the level of medical clearing too.They're investing in the sport and taking the nêccesary steps to better protect the fighters.Also if taking too much damage seems to be becoming a habit of yours their coaches/teams the organization and the comission have become better at getting together and having that talk with them.I'm not happy about what's happened to some of thêse guy's anymore than anyone else but even before it became a popular topic they were all aware of it's potentiality.Probably not a good idea to get rid of guns because some people have made poor choices with them.The reality is football has always been a much more dangerous sport than MMA.MMA just seems like it is on the surface.Why is there not more talk about that?Couldn't possibly be propoganda from other sports to demonize this one because it's growing so fast and they are trying to attract more interest and revenue to theirs could it?Your average football player is nearly brain dead before they even get out of college.I get it.Huge steps were taken by several rịch and powerful people to keep MMA from ever becoming a mainstream sport that it is today but it didn't work in the long run and they've all been exposed.Get over it.
This is serious stuff man, CTE is no joke.
Krzysztof Soszynski retired because of apparent memory loss.
While it needs to be studied, it should not be banned imo. Educate everyone about the danger, and let them choose if they will enter the sport or not. It’s what it means to have free will.
That’s the beauty and the beast of the sport. Such a beautiful sport it is but the nature of the outcomes are devastating
indeed
It should be made mandatory by all contact sport trainers that their fighters have to wear headgear whilst sparring. I’ve seen so many videos of fighters sparring and they’re not wearing any protective headgear, which in my opinion is crazy! There’s got to be a change of attitude in the sport and that comes through education. It won’t eliminate CTE but it will help.
I agree headgear should been worn when sparring, but even that doesn’t prevent getting CTE it just protects you from cuts and bruises. repeated blows to the head frequently will cause brain damage.
@@josephcontent8727i mean best is light sparring proper supplements proper rest and little hard sparring before the fight and fighter should know when to quit if he has been knocked out 4-5 times in his career he should quit
the house always wins
I don't get why you guys make a big thing out of this. We have known abour pugilistic dementia for 110 years in combat sports. These fighters arent being forced to fight. They know the risks, they know that it is dangerous. We dont need to "have a conversation" about it, and you dont need to clutch your pearls and flay your skin because you watch a fight where two grown adult men voluntarily agree to fight. THEY BUY THE TICKET, THEY TAKE THE RIDE. Everyone who had a job involving physical activities is going to get hurt doing it. If you dont like the UFC, you are more than free to get a job in the real world. Go lay brick or weld all day.
They are well paid, there are risks, they know the consequences, they do it anyway, and that is why we love them. What the hell are we talking about here?
The fact that MMA fighters are getting choked unconscious as well probably makes it even worse....
do you think light sparring is dangerous?
Light sparring is definitely safe and can be done without risk of injury for sure!
Greed will make people close eyes to the obvious truth that taking shots to your head is bad. Fighting is glorified and well-paid for. These people want $ and fame and they're buying them with their health. There's nothing that can be changed here. Stop paid fights == the problem is gone, but that's in an ideal world.
I feel sorry for these guys that I worshiped as outstanding athletes when I was a kid… but if you are even Hinting at taxpayer dollars paying for people’s medical procedures, because athletes voluntarily went into a sport where you get head trauma… I don’t want to pay for any of that… you need to rethink your argument
Plenty of MMA fighters are already showing CTE symptoms. Gary Goodridge, Chuck Liddell and Nick Diaz for starters.
V scary
Sparring is more of a problem when it comes to CTE than the actual professional fights.
Bro I’m 15 and I wanna start boxing, but idk if I want to take these risks. I’ve always wanted to since I was a baby in my crib while my father watched it on the TV. I REALLY want to, but it’s just such a big risk
Just find a good gym, leave out the ego, and keep good training partners and you'll avoid any big injuries, unless you're looking to have fights
@@MMAAccess well that would be like playing basketball without a court.
Nah man just do it but know your limits, spar intelligently and you’ll be fine. Don’t let something like risk stop you from doing something you want to do brother! I’m 40 now, had 2 broken hands, a knee replacement, 3 broken noses and can no longer train....would I change anything? Fuck no! Lol
if you wanna go pro, there is no way to avoid it. If you wanna go amateur, spar light and retire after 10-20 fights
@@epicmatrix2208 not true as there are guys who have fought professionally who show no signs of it. The same risks apply to any contact sport really and it’s mostly done to genetic predisposition. That being said the chances increase the more you do something and pros represent a higher risk because they’re sparring more often. Hence why I think a lot of them only fight once or twice a year now.
The background music does not match the topic of the video lol
This is garbage research. Mma has been around for DECADES.
Great video
I've thought about this a lot over the years. It's a tough one, I honestly don't think there is an answer.
I'd personally like to see a 3 KO and you're banned rule, but it wouldn't even change much. Only thing I think you can do is train everyone involved in the sport to better recognize it and fully understand the risk. Only real option is banning all sports with contact, which would be insane.
Norway did ban contact sports
@@sanderlange1932 I could be mistaken, I looked but cannot seem to find a copy of the law only news articles saying it was lifted. I don't believe it was to protect against CTE or anything though, it was more of a morality thing only including sports where a knockout is awarded.
Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, etc, it's easy to ban those and say they're barbaric or whatever. What should you do with soccer though? Turns out heading the ball is pretty bad for you. Baseball, hockey, skiing, basically you name it. Can contact happen at all even accidentally? Can you fall? Then CTE is possible and there's almost certainly confirmed examples. Just ironic to me I guess.
KOs are not what causes CTE. Repetitive damage is. KOs are way better for the fighters than a 5 round war with 200 headshots. Plus its a personal choice to compete why ban it?
They should never ban it! We don’t ban our kids who go and risk/lose their lives in war. Some people don’t care as much and love fighting. As long as everyone who participates is aware of the risk, they should be allowed to do what they want.
Well the thing is it builds up during sparring and when you're at a high level or compete in football... you don't think about it, it hurts but not enough to stop you from getting back in but then you repeat the same thing day after day for years. You can stop them from fighting but not from sparring
4:48 wtf is wrong with that ref HE IS DONE
didn’t this guy die in the ring
30yrs ago this sport was "grotesque" and the mainstream TV groups wouldn't dare touch it with a barge pole. Like most negative forces in society, they slowly become accepted by a trickle effect exposure that, one-by-one, gathers up an increasing mass of gullible "junkies" who can't resist the adrenalin rush, and TV groups, the lure of profit...even when the horrific consequences are screaming in their face. It appears society's moral gatekeeper of the past has retired without any replacement. Even as a former boxer, I myself, once disgusted at the sport, have slowly succumbed to the spectacle of MMA. But now working with vulnerable young people, I have noticed one of the sad consequences in our culture: the irresistible glamour of MMA sport has spawned a generation of vicious young men and an increasing number young women who want to emulate their MMA heroes on the street with some manufactured enemy that allows them to demonstrate their fighting prowess and purge their frustration and dissatisfaction with life. Whatever toll that will take remains to be seen. I seriously have to do some self-examination as to why I ever allowed myself to develop any interest in the sport.
It's a terrible risk, and likely too late for many of the athletes. However, at the end of the day- it is an individual's rights to take their own risks with their own bodies. I completely disagree with banning anything.
I’ve been training Muay Thai consistently for 2 years (training 5 days a week) and CTE is something I battle with every time that it’s time to go and train again. I keep telling myself I’m gonna leave it alone but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it and not to mention I’m in the best shape of my life…….. the micro concussions are the scariest to think about cause you never know when you’ve had one and they snowball into an irreversible problem
GSP I’m suing you for punching me 6:23
Gary Goodrich, and now Spencer Fisher are dealing with this disease.
There's more cases to come, in regards to MMA athletes.
I guarantee you Randy, Mark Coleman, Nate and Nick Diaz, Tito, Chuck are just a few you can notice it on immediately. To be fair, Tito was born with it but you get the point
@@mickyzzzeee lmao you couldn't resist with Tito😂 he's probably the only guy in the world who could get smarter from getting hit in the head
my brothers in christ I got concussed heading soccerballs. 6 goals in 10 games tho, but a year later my equilibrium is still not the same.
Basically humans are very fragile. You might be built different, but u you probably wont know that you're not until it's too late.
The Diaz brothers for example
CTE + weed. Not a good combination tho
It exists more in Boxing and Football than MMA. Reason being, in Boxing it’s strictly punching, nearly 50% of which are to the head. Also, more significantly. When boxers get knocked down/out, they can continue if they beat the count, while in MMA you don’t get counts and when the fighter isn’t defending the ref stops the fight. As you mentioned, in boxing the training camp sparring is brutal. Even though they wear headgear more often than not, the punches still rattle the brain. In MMA sparring headshots should not even be at 50%. Boxers die every year, while they are yet to see 1 death in MMA since it began. (Well at least not in the UFC, not sure about all promotions together.)
Lastly, to correct your “almost 30 years of MMA, it was technically started in 1985 by a Japanese promotion called “Shooto” founded by a man named “Satoro Sayama,” but modern MMA the way it is today began with UFC 1 in 1993, which is accurate with your near 30 year estimate.
Spencer Fisher, Chuck Liddell, Gary Goodridge-all were high profile fighters who suffer from CTE, dementia, etc.
Just play fight night or ufc4 folks😂
Has anyone seen the punishment joe joyce takes its not good.
Damn man it kill me when you constantly show gaethje on screen but I know aswell you’re 100% right that guy is going to be the next Muhammad Ali, they call him the highlight, he’s known for having the most exciting style in the sport, where he walks toward his opponent throwing wild hooks and heavy leg kicks, gets dropped 2-3 times but recovers quick enough to stay in the fight. It makes for some of the best ufc fights you’ll ever see but the excitement comes at the cost of putting gaethje into slug fests way too often, with little care for defense or being punched in the head
Chute boxe is the house of cte even today we se fighters take a lot of damage like Charles Oliveira, Good to watch but not good for the fighters.
Yeah I remember they would try to KO their sparring partners with headgear and mouth pieces, right up there with the Mayweather gyms
Chuck got his brain absolutely scrambled!!! Wow just wow !!!
These fighters not payed enough fr
I no longer watch football, MMA and boxing. I’m not going to cheer on an eventual death to the brain
This is an intelligent video. UFC legend Frank Mir always uses boxing's standing 8 count and the 10 count as a way to make MMA look safer. Then you pointed to ground and pound of MMA and how that creates that second and third concussion that boxing has. Good way of making both sports look equal. NFL is worse as one study should that at least 99% of former player had CTE. Thank you for this video.
Thank you, appreciate the kind words 🙏
I don’t understand how this is such a surprise revelation, but I’m glad it’s getting more research and attention