Dr. Steve Mora, a Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgeon out of Orange County, California, believes there are many reasons why a UFC fighter will avoid disclosing an injury.
Recently, former bantamweight champion ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley revealed that he had suffered a torn labrum 10 weeks out from his title fight with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that the promotion had no prior knowledge of the injury as O’Malley did not disclose it and there would have been no way for doctors to detect the injury during pre-fight medical exams.
Mora, who works closely with the UFC and other professional athletes, offered a few reasons why a fighter may choose to move forward with a fight despite not being 100%.
“Why is it that fighters won’t report an injury until after the fight? The first reason is that a fighter may think that they are not impeded at all by the injury so they show up expecting to win,” Mora said on Instagram. Expecting to be 100%. If they win, they’re heroes. If they lose, they have something to discuss after the fight.
“The second reason is that the fighter might suspect that they are not 100%, but they show up anyway. It might be because they don’t want to lose this opportunity. It might be their last chance to have a big shot.
“The third reason is that some of these fighters feel that they should be taken care of by the UFC. After all, they are making huge sacrifices—life and limb type of sacrifices. They’re leaving everything in the Octagon so they feel like their medical care following an injury that was associated with training should be taken care of by the UFC and covered 100%.”
The UFC Covers Medical Expenses For Fighters Injured While Training or During a Fight
The though first two points are certainly understandable, the third is not entirely accurate. The UFC does not actively offer its fighters health insurance for situations that occur in everyday life, but the promotion does cover medical expenses for athletes who are injured while training or during a fight. However, fighters are only allowed up to $50,000 per year before incurring out-of-pocket costs.
That may sound like a lot, but when you consider the cost of extensive surgeries and lengthy rehabs that some fighters have to undergo, that 50k can get swallowed up pretty quickly.
O’Malley is scheduled to undergo surgery on October 3 and is expected to be out for a minimum of 6-8 months.
