W. Silva has almost 23 years of MMA career. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook bellator mma
Wanderlei Silva has more than 50 fights in almost 23 years of professional MMA career. The long trajectory in the sport seems to be taking a heavy toll on one of the greatest idols in mixed martial arts. In an interview with the Portal do Vale Tudo website, 'The Ax Murderer' revealed that he suffered symptoms of a neurodegenerative disease.
See too
The Brazilian said he attended a lecture on concussion and identified that he suffers from some of the symptoms described. Wanderlei shows signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as 'dementia pugilistica'. Since fighters like Muhammad Ali, Éder Jofre and José Adilson Rodrigues dos Santos 'Maguila' had or have this disease.
“I was at a talk about concussion and of the ten symptoms the guy mentioned, I had eight. Symptoms would be, for example, mood changes, very quick irritation, forgetting some things, difficulty sleeping. […] I have the greatest interest in donating (the brain), since I'm not going to use it anyway (laughs). This area is very important”, said 'The Ax Murderer'.
Thinking about the future of the sport, the veteran advised amateur and professional athletes and their coaches to be careful about punches to the head during training.
“If I could give you one piece of advice... If you have a young person, don't let him punch you in the head too many times. There is a right time to do heavy training, but it can't be every day. A good coach takes care of his student”, concluded Silva.
Comments