WSoF 17 headliner Brian Foster spent $30-50,000 to get brain cleared to fight

Brian Foster fights Jake Shields Saturday night in the main event of But when he steps into the cage in the main event of World Series of Fighting 17, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Simply stepping into the cage in Nevada represents a four year journey since he was medically released by the UFC after something showed on a brain scan.

The assumption was that it was a hemorrhage on the brain, but no test since has shown anything. Wikipedia says he had successful brain surgery; foster denies he had any surgery at all. Foster says that he has spent $30,000 to $50,000 trying to prove to various commissions that he okay to fight.

Before the medical release, Foster was on a two-win fight streak in the UFC at the time, including a win over Matt Brown.

Since his release he has fought ten times in nine organizations, including an unsanctioned 16-man tournament in Mexico. Now he efforts have come full circle, and he is licensed in Nevada, following comprehensive testing at The Cleveland Clinic.

“I’ve been to the very best doctors,” Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “I’ve been to countless doctors and everybody past the one that got me suspended. Everyone after that one has been fine for the last couple years. We’ve taken the proper precautions necessary to ensure my safety and to make sure that nothing is gonna happen and I’m ready to compete.”

“This is a chance to show the world no matter what people say and no matter what happens, don’t give up on your dreams. If you feel it in your heart and you see you’re capable and people are still telling you you’re capable and people are still believing in you, don’t give up on yourself. Just keep going. Keep pushing. No matter what knocks you down, just brush it off and keep moving forward. And good things will happen in the end.”

“I’m busting my ass and breaking my back and sacrificing my time away from my family and my children and breaking my body down for what I love to do and for an organization that says they care about fighters. And for me to sustain an injury preparing for them to give me no kind of help or anything in that regard, yeah it’s kind of disturbing.”

“I love the UFC. Don’t get me wrong. As much as I’m bitter about it, I love the UFC. I would be stupid to say I don’t want to play for the NFL. I think that they need to be a little more sensitive to a fighter’s dreams and aspirations. And take the politics out of s— like that. Do it for the benefit of the fighter, because the fighter is doing it for the benefit of you. Why’s it gotta be one-sided? For me to go back to the UFC, I think after I whoop Jake’s ass I think they’re gonna want me over there. That being said, make it lucrative for me. Make it worth my while. Not just money. I want main card spots. I want top contenders. I want what’s owed to me.”

“It was a blemish on my f—ing MRI that they freaked out about and called it a hemorrhage. It was never even that. They blew it so far out of proportion. Ever since the UFC released me, I’ve been spending my own money to ensure my safety to continue my career and accomplish my dreams.”

“I think there’s something to be learned from my situation. There’s something to take from it, most definitely, for other people to come.”