Demetrious Johnson is undoubtedly one of the greatest MMA fighters to ever step into the octagon. The fighter was a former UFC flyweight champion and defended his belt a record 12 times. However, for the legendary ‘Mighty Mouse’, being healthy was always the concern, and as it turns out DJ has passed that test with flying colors.
After 15 years of professional MMA career, Demetrious Johnson recently announced his retirement. The fighter hung up his gloves at the top as the One Championship flyweight champion. Nevertheless, during the latest interview, Johnson disclosed that he has been checking his brain health with the Cleveland Clinic. The legend mentioned that he started it in 2012 and ended in 2023.
Every year, I underwent these evaluations And so, after 11 years of observations, a doctor approached me with all the scans and said, ‘Demetrius, throughout your entire career, your brain hasn’t deteriorated one bit. You’ve gotten smarter, your speech articulation has improved. You’re lucky, the hits haven’t changed your brain for the worse at all.
Demetrious Johnson via Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway
Previously, Demetrious Johnson mentioned that he frequently does MRI scans and is lucky that he has no CTE. CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head blows, which is frequent in contact sports such as MMA. It has a negative impact on fighters because it causes cognitive impairment, mental disorders, and behavioral changes.
😳📊Studies showed that Demetrious Johnson’s brain not only wasn’t harmed by strikes during his long career, but it actually started working better.
“I was part of a brain study for fighters from 2012 up until 2023, leading up to my second fight with Adriano. The Cleveland lab… pic.twitter.com/7IG4CIcWX0
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 9, 2024
Demetrious Johnson seems to be under the impression that a clean MRI rules out CTE. I wonder how widespread this misconception is among fighters. pic.twitter.com/XZk3yZMeMK
— FullContactMTWF (@FullContactMTWF) July 27, 2024
While it is a serious case of health hazard, it has also become a running joke in the MMA community. Fighters such as Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje, and Bobby Green are often subjected to these kinds of discussions. Other than MMA, boxing is another sport that puts athletes in such dangerous situations.
Johnson is lucky in terms of his health, but it also shows how good he was in the octagon. While in the UFC he defended his flyweight title 11 times. This made him worthy of a Hall of Fame career. As such, Dana White also recently mentioned that Johnson would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. This is despite their differences.
UFC Hall of Famer compares the dangers of boxing and MMA
Combat sports athletes are at a higher risk of acquiring CTE as they age due to repeated head trauma throughout their careers. Even slight injuries can accumulate and produce gradual neurological symptoms that often worsen as people age. As a result, many fighters in these activities suffer the consequences of CTE later in life.
MMA and boxing are two of the most popular combat sports and are often compared based on popularity. At the same time, a big part of the discussion is around which is more dangerous and why. While talking about this, former double champion Daniel Cormier has shared a detailed explanation.
People always kinda scoff at me when I say boxing is more dangerous than MMA. ‘Oh, how could you say that when they’re only boxing and they can’t jump on you when you hit on the ground when you fall.’ I said I would argue with you that that’s safer than you knocking me out bang. My body, which is trained for my whole life to get up gets up. They count to 8 or 9 and they say go fight more when I’m still concussed.
Daniel Cormier via JRE MMA Show #150
According to DC, in boxing the trauma is continued; however, in MMA it is over as soon as the fighter gets knocked out once. As a serious condition, CTE cannot be diagnosed definitively until after death. As a result, the combat sports community needs to spread awareness about the severity of the situation.
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