Stout: My chin isn’t what it used to be
Sam Stout: “Five years ago, I had an iron jaw. That punch (by Ross Pearson at UFC 185), I don’t even think would have even made me flinch.”
UFC welterweight Sam Stout has been fighting since 2003, and has only lost by strikes twice. It was however in his last two fights.
He appeared recently on The Jeff Leeson Show” and discussed the state of his chin.
“Eventually, your body just says ‘no more'” said Stout. For me, I don’t think I’m done, but I don’t think I can take a punch the same way I used to.
Five years ago, I had an iron jaw. That punch (by Ross Pearson at UFC 185), I don’t even think would have even made me flinch.
“But I’ve taken a lot of punches over the years, and my body doesn’t respond the same way. That being said, I don’t think it’s the end of the … that was a good shot, too, and from a hard power puncher. But I don’t think it’s the end of the road for me quite yet. I think I still got a couple good fights left in me. I just think I can’t fight like a kid anymore, be as reckless.
“There’s a reason I won all those fight of the nights – it’s because I just put my balls on the line, and take a punch to land two. Maybe that’s not the best way to go about it anymore. I gotta start being a little more strategic.”
Stout is an amazing fighter, in 10th place all time for performance bonuses, with six Fight of the Nights, and one Knockout of the Night. But when a fighter talks about his chin, he is talking about his brain. Given how little is understood about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, when there is a clear and fundamental change in how the brain responds to trauma, perhaps the response should be more than being “a little more strategic.”
