[ Hurt-Locker #002 ] : From Ear To There (Part 1 of 2)

Dana White, the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), is a man best known for making Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) news headlines for what comes out of his mouth, but more recently has been in the news for what’s going on in his ear.

White recently shared with the MMA world that he suffers from an inner ear problem known as  Ménière’s disease (pronounced min-yairs). And, in true transparent Dana White fashion, he’s opened up about his battle with the condition, the treatment he’s receiving and his beef with doctor’s who wont give him the surgery he thinks he needs. In part one ofthis edition of The Hurt-Locker we’ll help make sense of what Ménière’s disease is, what causes it and how it’s treated. 


The Basics - The Ear, What It Is, What It Does And How It’s Supposed To Work: 

The general ear anatomy can be broken down into three major parts: The outer ear, which is basically the stuff you can see on the side of your head (i.e. earlobe, some of the ear canal etc, etc). The middle ear, this area starts behind the eardrum; when most people talk about having an “ear infection” this is the space they’re most often talking about. Last we have the inner ear, there is a lot going on here and this will be the area we focus on the most when talking about Ménière’s disease. 

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With so much medical scrutiny about concussions in football and ice hockey, what is being done to oversee these injuries in seemingly the most violent sport out there?…Mixed Martial Arts. Although measures are taken to make the sport as safe as possible, concussion science would claim that these fighters ARE undeniably sustaining concussions (especially with the sports’ use of smaller gloves than in boxing). The mysterious nature of these injuries is that they unveil their effects later in life. What may seem trivial in the short term may come back with a vengeance in the long-term. As a relatively young sport in the mainstream, studying the long-term effects of these hits on fighters will be important before true comparisons with “older” sports can be made.  What are your thoughts? 

                  For more MMA injury news, follow us @ID_MMA on Twitter. 

Last night the UFC (#140) put on another spectacular event. One of the amazing fights was that between heavyweights Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. The fight was destined to be a great one for a lot of reasons, but one of them was the fact that these two men possess what many consider the most technical ground games in MMA’s heavyweight division, which is unusual as most would usually expect big guys to just step into the Octagon and slug it out. 

These two didn’t disappoint. In what will go down as one of the most memorable “OH S#!T” moments in UFC history, fans saw an exciting display of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) that resulted in Mir catching Nogueira in a Kimura and snapping his arm at the humerus (but ain’t a damn thing funny). 

The Injury-Duty diagnosis: Transverse Humeral Shaft Fracture. But lets be real. Check out his x-ray below. We didn’t have to go to medical school to tell you this one.

We’ll be back later with a “Hurt-Locker” installment of the injury. In the meantime, we put together a clip of the fight. Watch it…(Top of This Post). 

[^ Nogueira’s Actual X-Ray Taken At a Los Angeles Hospital ]

[ “Huh. That’s weird.” ] 

It’s A Hairy Situation.

There are many reasons for my love of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but one of the main ones is that anything can happen in any given fight. The thing I dislike the most about MMA? The judges. If you’ve ever watched a fight go the distance, then you know how horrific judges scoring has been. And, this isn’t a recent change. Its NEVER been good. Or Consistent. 

Fighters are always looking to “send a message” to the judges. They often try to “finish strong” at the end of rounds, most of the time hoping to land the last strike, take their opponent down or get up off of their back if they happen to be mounted. The goal is simple; if the judges are “on the fence” on who to give the round to, you want the last image they see to be you scoring on your opponent. It basically comes down to MMA judges not being well-versed in the techniques of the sport. Simple “tricks” such as “finishing strong” can nullify legitimate scoring done in any given round (i.e. judges are notorious for awarding rounds to fighters in the top position while on the ground, despite the bottom fighter being more active). 

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“No Knee[d] For It” - Should Front/Side Kicks To The Knee Be Banned From MMA?

Jon “Bones” Jones has been under constant criticism from the MMA community since dismantling Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 125, where he captured the Light-Heavyweight (LHW) Championship. Why? I’m not entirely sure, actually. Maybe it has to do with how quickly Jones blasted on to the scene. Since starting his MMA career in April of 2008, Jones compiled a 7-0 record in a matter of four short months. Since then, he has put together an impressive record of 15-1. Entangled in those fifteen wins are whoopins he put on Stephan Bonnar, Brandon Vera, Vladimir Matyushenko, and most recently, the former PrideFC Middleweight Champ and UFC LHW Champ, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

 Along the way, Jones has been tagged by both fans and some opponents alike as “cocky” and “very arrogant” for what he claims is “being very confident in my own abilities.” But here is how I see it; Jones is easy to hate. Why? Think about it. The guy destroys some of the sports’ most beloved fighters in one jagged swoop and makes it look effortless. Fans barely had time to watch him fight, much less get to know him. It’s like the new kid at school; he can’t just jump on the court during lunchtime recess and call next. He’s gotta wait till he’s picked. Instead, not only did Jones call next, but he still hasn’t left the court. And, as if that weren’t all enough, Jone’s isn’t the coolest of dudes. He’s not particularly funny. In fact, he can be a bit corny at times. Oh and lets not leave out the fact that he’s not afraid to share his religious devotion at all times (people don’t seem to dig that, for whatever reason). So it’s pretty clear to the MMA community; Jones ain’t your homie, and he plays by a different set of rules. Which brings me to crux of this Injury-Duty Report: Should kicks like Jones’ front/side kick to the knee be banned from the octagon?

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