Holdsworth: I won’t spar much when I return

Chris Holdsworth won The Ultimate Fighter 18: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate, on November 30, 2013, choking out Davey Grant in the final. He had suffered a concussion before the fight, but went through with it anyway.

Holdsworth felt fine and took a fight with Chico Camus at UFC 173 in May of 2014, but again suffered a concussion before the fight, this time during wrestling practice. The second concussion left him with eye strain and sensitivity to light and noise among other symptoms, but he went through with the fight, and won.

Holdsworth, 27, has not fought since.

In an interview with Brett Okamoto for ESPN, Holdsworth talked about the last year. He has lost some sponsors, and is making ends meet with coaching and cornering duties. His return is dependent on how he feels, but even that can be difficult to gauge.

“I’m not trying to give some sob story, man,” said Holdsworth. “I’m on the rise. I’m coming back. That’s what I want to focus on. I went through feeling depressed about it and now I want to be positive. I don’t want people feeling bad for me.”

“Some days I might feel something, a headache — but that could be caused by all types of stuff. When I feel I haven’t had any issues for awhile, I’m going to give it a little longer to make sure everything is smooth and then I’ll be ready.

“I’m saying next year for a return. I’m going to take this whole year off. I’ll still do what I’m doing. I’ll stay in shape. Right now, I have to look out for myself and my health.”

“At the end of the day, I miss this s—. I’m here cornering Paige, going through the motions of fight week, and I really miss it. I still have that fire. It would be hard for me to quit. I’m f—— ready to get back in there, but in time.”

“I didn’t know a thing about brain trauma before this. It’s been a big eye-opener. One thing I’ve been doing is trying to help my teammates train smarter. We were sparring way too much. We’d spar multiple times per week, five-minute rounds. It’s not good for you. And you get tired, it gets hot in California, you rip off the head gear. You really have to check your ego and do things right, play it safe.

“There’s going to be a major change in training, now that the head stuff is more of an issue. In football and in MMA, it’s a common topic. In the future, I won’t even spar much during a fight camp. There are other ways to get ready.”

As Holdsworth noted, MMA is undergoing major changes in training with regard to head contact. No one knows the right balance yet, but as far as sparring five-minute rounds, multiple times per week, the juice is not worth the squeeze. Especially considering the squeeze can come a decade after retirement.