BJJ and MMA legend Fabricio Werdum has recently revealed that he fears he has suffered injuries to his brain throughout his career, and may potentially even have CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). Werdum had a very decorated career as a BJJ competitor before he hit his peak as an MMA fighter, winning two IBJJF World Championship gold medals and two ADCC titles. Werdum actually won a total of six medals at ADCC across eight years of competing at the event, resulting in him being inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame earlier this year. He was an active MMA fighter at the same time as well, competing for all the major promotions of his era.
Werdum submitted Alistair Overeem in PRIDE and MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko during his time as a Strikeforce fighter, two of the biggest accomplishments on his resume before he began his second stint as a UFC fighter in 2012. That run led to him winning the UFC heavyweight world championship before he eventually left the promotion in 2020, although he still competes in MMA. He was most recently seen losing his bare-knuckle MMA debut against Junior Dos Santos, bringing his professional record to 24-10-1 (1). With 36 professional fights over more than two decades and a lifetime of training, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Fabricio Werdum did sadly develop CTE.
Although CTE unfortunately appears to be pretty common among contact sports athletes, it’s still an area that’s not fully understood. A large part of that is because it’s impossible to diagnose without performing an autopsy, meaning that nobody knows they have it until death. It’s been known about for around a century though, dating back to when boxers were known as being ‘punch-drunk’ before it was given the name ‘dementia pugilistica’. Today doctors know that it can come from any repeated head injury and that means that although the exact prevalence isn’t known, it logically must be pretty widespread among MMA fighters.
Fabricio Werdum gave a declaration in the UFC anti-trust lawsuit that included details of his potential brain injuries and CTE, and it was shared by MMA journalist John Nash in a recent post to his official Twitter account. A transcript can be found below:
“While fighting for the UFC, I suffered many concussions. I fear that during my career I have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and am noticing symptoms common with TBI and CTE including irritability, anger, anxiety, insomnia, and memory loss. I have many lesions and scarring in my brain, and I have a cyst that is located centrally within my brain making surgery impossible. I monitor this cyst with biannual exams to determine if it is growing. To date, no treatment for CTE has been found.”
UFC antitrust news. 51 more declarations filed (107 total now I believe) in support of the Le v Zuffa settlement, including from former champs Lyoto Machida and Fabricio Werdum. pic.twitter.com/qjs1PlXxES
— John S. Nash (@heynottheface) October 11, 2024
