Wand says he has 12 of 15 symptoms of concussion
Wanderlei Silva: “I attended a lecture about concussions and I had 12 out of the 15 symptoms presented by the expert there.”
The passing of Kimbo Slice at the of just 42 shocked the entire fight world, and beyond. It gave MMA legend Wanderlei Silva pause to reflect, and to worry about brain damage in combat sports.
R.I.P. Man, first Randleman and now Kimbo, that’s scary,” wrote Wand, as translated by Lucas Rezende for BE. “It’s coming earlier and earlier for my people. We don’t know yet all the consequences caused by our profession, or the consequences on your bodies and minds. It’s like I always tell my friends, forgetting things is actually good, because you forget the bad stuff, too. Jokes aside, I attended a lecture about concussions and I had 12 out of the 15 symptoms presented by the expert there.”
“What can you do? This law that forbids fighters from using IV’s is a crime against fighter’s brains, because you lose water from your brain when you dehydrate, too. That greatly increases the chances of serious brain damage. I have a lot of friends who are different from before. They are getting kind of crazy. Who is going to look after us? Whoever didn’t save some money is going to face some hard times, because we never get any help. We are on our own.
Some of the signs of concussion that Wand may have been referencing include:
Fatigue
Headaches
Visual disturbances
Memory loss
Poor attention/concentration
Sleep disturbances
Dizziness/loss of balance
Irritability-emotional disturbances
Feelings of depression
Seizures
Nausea
Loss of smell
Sensitivity to light and sounds
Mood changes
Getting lost or confused
Slowness in thinking
Compounding the problem, Wand now intends to fight overseas, where there is no government regulatory safety structure in place.
Wand’s charge that the UFC’s IV ban heightens the chance of damage is unfortunately not mindful of the further steps that the league, and progressive commissions, are taking to combat the culture of extreme weight cutting in the sport. But he is right that there is as yet no process in all of combat sports for the long term care of fighters suffering from CTE.
If a fighter is under contract and is diagnosed with brain damage, what do you do? No one knows yet.