Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, better defined as brain damage, is a neurodegenerative disease often associated with repetitive head trauma, and it poses a significant threat to the long-term health of fighters. So why take the risk? How much do we know about CTE and what can be done to mitigate it?
We address all this and more as we dive deeper into the unseen battle between martial artists and their own brains. CTE, also known as Boxer's Dementia, is a progressive brain condition that's believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. Over time, repeated impacts can lead to a buildup of abnormal proteins in the brain.
The symptoms of CTE can be variable, but oftentimes it's a personality shift, a behavioral change, maybe mood changes like depression. There are things like aggression and violent behaviors, impulsivity, a short fuse. Joel Lockwood found five studies that estimated between 28% and 46% of all matches ended as a result of KO or TKO. Meaning that at best, one in four of the fights we're watching on Saturday night result in someone experiencing a concussive brain injury.
So how prevalent is this issue? What examples can we point to? Well, in 2012, doctors diagnosed him with degenerative dementia, a type of CTE.
It's caused by repeated blows to the head. Gary Goodridge has been very open about the impact fighting has had on his life since he retired. Mental disabilities are huge.
It's a huge thing. It's got me crippled. Do you remember that? Were we here at those?
No, it was in Los Angeles. No, I don't remember. That was four years ago.
How would you say that your condition was changed over the past four years? You know what? It just got worse. Kat Zingano also found herself struggling with symptoms of brain trauma and found the UFC not all that helpful in assisting her.
My memory was... These are all things that I went to the UFC PI to talk to them about because I'm like, I don't know what to do. Like, I want to fight.
They offered me to fight Chris Cyborg at 145. Money out of my pocket trying to figure this out because none of this is covered by the UFC, especially because, you know, not something I claimed in a fight. So even though it clearly came from... from that fight, you still don't get covered? Mm-mm. What?
And then there's Nam Pham's speech deteriorating. I'm trying to get to my school, the Maru Academy. How are you doing? Good morning. Good morning.
One recent UFC veteran to make the news was Julie Ketze. After retiring from mixed martial arts in 2013. Kedzie reported to have suffered from depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and lack of sleep since wrapping up her fighting career. All of these are symptoms of traumatic encephalopathy, and in late 2023, Kedzie agreed to donate her brain for research after she dies.
It is worth noting, Julie never suffered a single knockout loss and still experiences the repercussions of traumatic brain injury. But how can this be? Well, Research now shows that even an impact to the brain as innocuous as heading a football can still count as a subconcussive episode.
Meaning that even if you're never knocked out, you can still experience significant brain injuries from repeated blows to the head. I don't believe I've ever had a traumatic brain injury from a fight. One important thing to remember in all this, these are prize fighters. They're knowingly risking their lives for financial compensation. So how much are they being paid?
The short answer? Not very much. I'm coming for the f***ing money, you piece of... The UFC holds roughly a 90% share of both domestic and international market space in MMA.
This gives them control over not just the fighters in their roster, but the potential growth of the other promotions as well. Despite the massive growth in UFC profits year after year, fighter pay does not correlate with this increase. In fact, one could argue that since fighters can no longer wear their own sponsors... They're earning less on average than they were 10 years ago.
They need to grow. This whole thing needs to grow together. Our lives are on the f***ing line. Healthcare needs to be taken care of.
Our health needs to be taken care of. Even potential superstars like Patti Pimblitt are signed onto a basic 12 and 12 contract. And sure, they can receive bonuses, but that entails taking more risks. Just take a look at the fighters who've received the most bonuses in UFC history. Notice how every single name on that list has also taken a significant amount of damage.
So is fighting worth it? For some, we ask fighters why they fight. Some love it, some were bullied, and some have nothing else.
But the most common answer... I'm fighting for money. Show me that money! And the UFC knows this. They know the main pool of people they recruit from are often desperate and struggling financially.
You can even see how it can frustrate the UFC when a fighter has made enough money and seems to be too inactive in their eyes. They understand how much more difficult it would be for them to matchmake. If the whole roster made enough money that they didn't need to fight on demand.
I think Francis is in a place right now where he wants, he doesn't want to take a lot of risk. Feels like he's in a good position. This of course raises a question about individual autonomy. If a person wants to fight and pursue greatness, who are we to tell them no?
Take us inside the mindset. When someone tells you what to do and what you should do, how does that make you feel? That's why I think I'm a fighter to begin with because I'm never able to have somebody tell me what to do, right? Real jobs were. After all, there are hundreds of life-threatening extreme sports and hobbies that we don't stop people from participating in.
Surely, if someone's fully aware of all the risk, then it's ultimately their choice to step into the cage. And it would appear that the majority of fighters, at least in the professional leagues, are very aware of the dangers of fighting. My record is 9-1-1.
I know the damage of what this sport can do and what consequences are, but... I know what I'm getting myself into. I chose to fight. What I do and I just know what I signed up for. I just don't want to, obviously, I don't want to be like someone with a glass jaw when I'm like 40 and I'm going to be fighting like the peanuts and I'm still trying to survive but I'm getting knocked out every fight.
I want to achieve great things and I felt the only thing I know how to achieve great things is fighting. It makes me feel alive. It feels like it's therapy for me and it's like peace in a way.
Although some, less so. Words back to me because I don't know anything about it. I don't know a damn thing about this head trauma.
I don't know anything about a concussion. I don't know anything about wear or tear. I don't know anything about it.
But why are fighters willing to take this risk in the first place? When we look at the demographic of fighters across the UFC roster, we see the majority of them come from underclass backgrounds, and they chose fighting because they lacked the opportunities to do anything else. Problem at home, problem in school.
Five years old, I was sweeping the floor, and I was like, man, this is not... what I'm meant to be like I'm supposed to be something great but uh but everybody around me is like no this is what you do you live in this little town and you do you follow the rules. He delved into growing up in Stockton and not having a father figure at home and having to take care of Nate and be the head of household and not liking to fight and the damage that it causes you.
But as we've already discussed fighter pays in a crisis itself implying that there's a trick being played here some smoke and mirrors if you will. A mirage of some potential glory that's being dangled in front of hungry young fighters like a carrot. And once they try to reach out and grab it, it vanishes. In Wilfred Owen's famous poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, Owen describes the horrific reality of war, and how it compares to what was being sold to young men at the time.
If you could hear at every jolt the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer. Bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, my friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children, ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie, dolce et decorum est. The old lie Owen speaks of here is that it's sweet and fitting to die for one's country.
But why do we mention this? Well... The parallels between fighting and war are often expressed not by critics of the practice, but by the fighters themselves.
We don't... But you guys, I'm gonna go have a f***ing war for you guys. No, I plan for a war.
It will be a bloody war. And it's gonna be an absolute war and we're gonna be thankful. This is the art of war. Despite all we know about the horrors of war, our governments are still successful in recruiting new troops into their front lines. This is because the old lie is still sold to us today.
But not all of us. Specifically, advertisements tend to sell the military lifestyle to the young and disenfranchised. I left school at 16, broke my arm, broke the bank, 18, I worked nights in the castle. Sure, I was born in Carlisle, but I was made in the Royal Navy.
We see a similar depiction happening to the UFC fighters today also. They're sold a violent and glorious path to immortality and some do appear to achieve this dream But for the overwhelming majority who don't it's only a matter of time for the UFC's own old lie reveals itself No, we got this mix your channel you champion shop it. I don't stop it As it turns out, if you take a poor and uneducated man and convince him he's going to be a world champion and a millionaire one day, he'll be willing to risk it all on ESPN for $12,000. Most fighters, of course, never become champions or superstars.
Once most fighters realize they've been sold this lie, it's too late. They've already been chewed up and spat out by the combat sports machine, left broke, with few employable skills, and potential brain damage. Some fighters seem at peace with the fact that they may suffer from CTE in the future, either believing that it simply won't happen to them, or if it does, it'll be worth it, because they will be a champion.
But as we all know, anyone can get caught. I've always felt I was winning the fight and then I got caught. Anderson. Oh my, he got hit! Look at the finish!
The champion, Troy Zanato, the tour! He's heard him three times in the last 60 seconds! And if anyone can get caught, anyone's life. I was a professional boxer from Puerto Rico. And they found lesions in my brain, which led to further studies and I found that I had dementia.
Believing you'd survive this gauntlet unscathed is to believe you're impervious to police. I don't want that type of life for myself. I want to be the greatest fighter ever.
The reason both of these recruitment strategies work is because these young men tend to be desperate for a way out of the monotony of their regular lives. They want to fulfill the expectations they have of what a man should be, and both war and fighting fit this criteria. They're willing to risk their health and even their lives on the altar of glory.
Outside of a drastic change to the rules, a miracle drug, or some undiscovered medical procedure, very little can be done to make fighting safe. It's like smoking. There isn't a safe way to do it.
The only way to make CTE make sense is to finally make it worth the risk. When Nick Diaz was preparing to make his most recent comeback against Robbie Lawler, people debated whether or not the legend's speech had begun to slur. I don't like you for that.
If I'm looking in at me and you do that, I don't, I'm like, why? I'm like, I'm like, okay, well, you got to feed your family. I'm like, well, I fed mine, you know? Um, if it's good for him, after I saw that interview with you, I was kind of concerned, to be honest with you. I was like, man, maybe, maybe this guy, he's a captain.
CTE damage here, what's going on here? However, what was shocking to those who had followed Nick's career wasn't apparent symptoms of brain injury, but that he felt he had nothing to show for it. If you're 36 years old, and you're still talking about being haunted by and bothered by and living through the problems that you were articulating to a strong degree 5, 10, arguably 15 years ago, that's a problem. To me was...
While he didn't sound the same, he was saying many of the same things. After years of fighting, getting hit, and suffering the consequences, the saddest part isn't that Nick is struggling with his health. He, like all fighters, knew what he was getting into.
No, the heartbreaking part is that despite being considered a legend of the game, Nick doesn't think it was worth it. Therefore, The solution isn't to blame fighters for not realizing they were a part of the chosen few, nor to nerf mixed martial arts or even change its rule set. The UFC tells aspiring fighters, this is a place for the best in the world.
If you fight your heart out, you will be rewarded. An ultimate meritocracy. Perhaps it's about time that was true.
Nate, what would you say to kids who are aspiring, who want to be UFC fighters? Don't get hit.