In this episode, I sit down with Bellator middleweight champion Matt Mitrione to talk about his recent victory over Gegard Mousasi and his recovery from a brain injury that kept him sidelined for a year. He talks about his recovery and how he was able to return to full health. He also talks about the aftermath of his brain injury and how it affected his decision to not fight again for another year. We also talk about what it was like being diagnosed with a brain tumour and the treatment that he received. And of course, he gives us his thoughts on the Bellator Middleweight title win over Mousasi at UFC 246 in Las Vegas on Saturday night. If you haven t done so already, be sure to check out the episode on our socials to see if you agree with Matt's thoughts on this topic. Tweet Me! if you have any questions or comments on anything we should cover or suggestions for future topics or topics we can talk about in the next episode. Thanks for listening! Timestamps: 1:00 - What was your favorite part of the fight night? 2:30 - How did you feel about the fight? 3:40 - What do you think about Matt's recovery? 4:00 5:30 6:00 Thoughts on the UFC 246 win? 7:00 What does it mean to you as a fighter? 8:15 - How does it feel like to be a champion? 9:00 Canelo Alvarez? 10: What does your brain injury feel like now? 11: What is your favorite sport? 13:00 Is there anything you would like to see Matt's brain injury? 15: What are you looking forward to see in the future? 16:00 Do you think he should be doing next? 17:30 What s your biggest challenge? 18:00 How does he feel about his future in MMA? 19:00 Does he feel like he's going to get back to his next fight next year? 21:40 22:00 Should he have a chance to fight again in the UFC? 26:30 Is he have another fight in 2020? 27:00 Who do you want to fight next fight in 2019? 25:40 What s his biggest challenge in the rest of his goals for the next fight 24:30 Do you have a prediction for next fight ?
00:01:56.000I said I don't need to go get that done now.
00:01:59.000And so fast forward, you know, I basically stayed in camp the whole year training, you know, with that fight on my mind all the way from November when I started the first camp for the fight in January.
00:02:13.000Into the new year, waiting for the new date.
00:02:19.000And it was March that I got the word that we were going to fight in June in London.
00:02:28.000And so I was basically training all year and I just picked right back up into camp.
00:02:39.000The very beginning of May, I was already a good month into the serious camp, and I was just getting ready to fly to Brazil, Curitiba, to get into the hardest phase of camp.
00:02:57.000I was going to be there for three weeks.
00:03:00.000And I had to get my MRI done, you know, and I wanted to get it done before I went to Brazil, just to check it off the list.
00:03:08.000So this was actually the week I had two good buddies of mine, Jake Mapes and Sam Alvey, were in Oklahoma training with me.
00:05:46.000And then the next morning I fly to Brazil for my camp, you know, to go down there for the hard sparring and everything that I like to do, you know, stuff we talked about last time.
00:05:57.000And so I'm like going, you know, in the airport getting ready to go to Brazil for this portion of my camp, for this fight that is like the biggest fight of my life, you know.
00:06:09.000I've already waited an extra six months for it.
00:07:20.000And as they accumulate, those balls are much more susceptible to bleeding.
00:07:29.000And reading about it, while I'm getting ready to go, I'm flying to Brazil, I'm in the airport, I'm taking off.
00:07:40.000There's so many extreme cases of this disease where People have to have multiple surgeries to get them removed, seizures, vision issues, people going to comas.
00:07:57.000And then, of course, worst, worst case is even death.
00:08:01.000And obviously, Googling and not talking to a specialist and just kind of doing my own thing is not the best way to get information.
00:08:10.000And so I just have all these thoughts running in my head.
00:08:13.000About, you know, what I'm dealing with in my health and like, okay, uh, now I'm going to, you know, uh, Brazil to, you know, train and spar and, and I have this fight and I'm, uh, right now I don't have anyone signing off in this paper, you know, is this going to happen?
00:08:32.000And, um, so I get there and, you know, uh, At this point, the only one that knows is my girl and I'm confiding in her and I'm just talking to her and she's shocked.
00:08:59.000And so I'm talking with her, and then I have my coach, Mauricio.
00:09:05.000He's my head MMA coach and my Muay Thai teacher.
00:09:10.000And he goes with me down to Kutichiba, and we train there at his brother's academy, Andre Dita, at Dita's academy, Evolue Sound Thai.
00:09:19.000And, you know, we fly Saturday, arrive Sunday, start training Monday, and I'm just like, I'm trying to train this first day, and I'm just like, what am I doing?
00:09:26.000You know, and I'm getting hit in the head, and I'm like, man, am I slowly killing myself right here?
00:09:31.000Like, you know, what am I training for at this point?
00:10:13.000I'm not 100% fluent, but I can get around.
00:10:17.000I can do pretty well on my own down there just from all the trips that I've done over the years.
00:10:23.000So, you know, thankfully, Mauricio, his brother Dita, they have so many connections down there, you know.
00:10:32.000Being who they are and the history that they have, teaching martial arts, you get to know everybody.
00:10:41.000And so they were able to make things happen quick for me.
00:10:46.000We saw a doctor, got a prescription for another MRI. Get scheduled to get that MRI done, which happens on Friday, the end of my first week there.
00:10:57.000So I'm going that whole week, training, trying to stay positive, but I'm wondering, what am I doing?
00:12:09.000And, you know, I'm just like, man, when Shanji arrived that Monday or Tuesday and I tell him what's going on, I'm just like, dude, I'm a mess right now.
00:14:52.000I'll fast forward to the doctors I end up seeing here in the States who clarify a lot of this, but But the doctors in Brazil all say the same thing.
00:15:09.000Getting hit in the head isn't good for your brain.
00:15:11.000And I think just looking at it when you see it and then you know that I'm going to get hit in the head and what I do, you're automatically going to be like...
00:15:20.000Hey, you know, there's already this extra bit of of danger that we're putting in to a dangerous situation.
00:17:56.000So I had to like walk on my hands, scoot off the mat.
00:18:01.000I got carried out of the academy that day, could not walk, and I'm sitting down on the edge of the mat, and I'm just like, I'm bursting into tears, and I look up to Madison, and I'm like, man, it's not gonna happen.
00:19:09.000And Shanji, he had seminars on the weekend.
00:19:12.000You know, he came down there to support me in camp.
00:19:14.000But on the weekends, he was going off to teach seminars in different areas of Brazil.
00:19:18.000And And so I'm laid up in this Airbnb all weekend, and I'm like, just FaceTiming my girl, and I'm like, you know, baby, like, I don't think this is happening.
00:19:31.000I can't believe I've come this far, you know, to the title shot, this much training, you know, for the camp, like, going from November of 2018 into the end of May of 2019. That was my, that was it.
00:23:31.000You know, there is no studies that say that getting hit in your head is going to make your cavernoma worse or cause you to bleed and something's going to happen.
00:24:00.000There's nothing that's going to happen until you have symptoms, until you show signs.
00:24:05.000And because I can't find any studies that say getting hit in the head is going to make it worse, and because you are a normal, healthy, functioning person at this point...
00:24:57.000Man, we walk out of that office, me and Mauricio, and as soon as we leave the door and we get to the elevator, man, I just burst into tears.
00:25:23.000So, I send the letter to Ed, and we begin the process of trying to get approved.
00:25:32.000We get everything into Bellator, let them know they got the scans.
00:25:37.000They send it over to the Europe Commission.
00:25:40.000They use an organization called Safe MMA. And, you know, we kind of like, we're happy, we're positive, but at the same time, I'm still not approved.
00:27:06.000So I could stand and all I'm doing is boxing now at this point because I can't throw kicks and I can't change levels to do takedowns.
00:27:16.000Um, and so that was a whole nother thing because, you know, as I'm waiting to, to hear back on if I'm going to get approved, I'm only punching mitts.
00:27:26.000Like I might as well be doing like a cardio kick, kickboxing class, you know, without kicks.
00:27:32.000And that was the last thing that I want to do with Musashi is just go in there and box, you know, that's not what I do.
00:30:20.000We come to this point now where the fight is two weeks away, and I don't know if it's on or not.
00:30:31.000I'm just trying to put together as good of training as I can, stay as positive as I can, but at the same time, I'm just like, man, I need the yes.
00:30:53.000I was walking around heavier than what I normally would for my fights.
00:30:58.000By this time, I'm normally below 205 in the 200 to 205 range.
00:31:05.000That's where I like to get to just off pure diet and off training.
00:31:08.000And I was still 210 to 212. It was hard.
00:31:14.000I could box, and I could box hard, and I could spar boxing, but without wrestling, I didn't feel like I was conditioned the way I wanted to be.
00:32:04.000But anyways, finally on like the last day that they could give me the answer, they gave me the answer and I got the email and it said, we've approved you.
00:32:18.000You are approved to fight two weeks before the fight.
00:32:22.000I held off on, you know, I'm flying my family there, you know what I mean?
00:32:27.000I have all my, like, there's the corner coaches, but I have a couple other coaches that I was, you know, going to fly out there, and I was waiting to purchase these tickets, and, you know, I had some other guys like, hey, where are you staying?
00:34:40.000My friend Cameron Shane, who's a mobility yoga guru, he's just an amazing guy.
00:34:51.000He, you know, being that I felt the way I did, I didn't want to go back to Hajar's and try to do anything because I didn't want people to see me.
00:34:57.000And he has these, you know, yoga connections all throughout the world.
00:35:01.000And we found a yoga studio where my last few days, we could go there and try to do whatever we could, where no one could see, you know, as far as like other jiu-jitsu guys or MMA guys.
00:35:14.000And man, the Sunday before the fight, we go into this yoga studio and we're trying to get a workout together.
00:35:23.000And I'm just like, man, I break down and I just start crying.
00:35:28.000And I'm like, guys, because I'm literally hitting mitts like this again.
00:35:40.000I need to feel my whole game coming together.
00:35:43.000And I just break down and all the guys come around me, you know, and they just, man, they consoled me in such a I mean, we just cut it that day.
00:35:57.000There was no more training, but I can't begin to give as much gratitude and describe how much my team was there for me when I needed them because I was not in a good state of mind.
00:37:51.000You know, I don't know if anyone out there saw the video that Bellator put out afterwards where I said, like, you know, we did it and you could see how emotional I was.
00:38:22.000It's just a powerful book for my life.
00:38:26.000I discovered it in 2000, the end of 2007. And it's just such an inspirational book and really kind of like was the sort of the Bible for self-help books and all the other, you know, people that kind of came from that, like Tony Robbins and things like that.
00:38:48.000Like, you know, the The motivating, the secret, all those sort of things.
00:41:21.000My dream to fight for the belt, to fight a legendary fighter like Musashi.
00:41:26.000Someone that's been at the top for so long.
00:41:30.000That was how I envisioned fighting for my first big world title in MMA. I mean, I was going out there like that was the last fight of my life.
00:41:42.000Like, it could potentially be the last fight of my life, you know?
00:41:45.000And all this stuff with my health, like, you know, when I'm thinking about my parents and my family, you know, like, wondering, you know, am I going to get hurt?
00:41:56.000Am I... I'm going to do something selfishly where because I want to fight, I want this title that something could happen to me and I'm not going to be healthy, I'm not going to be the same and I'm going to break their hearts.
00:42:13.000I had all these emotions and thoughts and I was literally kind of...
00:42:23.000So to speak, going out there ready to die.
00:43:08.000And I don't know if you've ever seen, but I've posted before some clips of my dad who is a professional organist, or a former professional organist, but he still plays the organ.
00:43:23.000And when I walked out for this fight, I had them play a clip of my dad playing the organ.
00:43:34.000And, you know, growing up, when I first started training martial arts, my dad was playing the organ at that time, professionally, and that was what I did.
00:43:45.000The time that I spent with my dad, I was at church, listening to him play the organ, and then we would go to the academy, and we would train, or we would train at home, and, you know, my father's in my corner, and, you know, this is...
00:45:12.000It was just a rollercoaster of emotions.
00:45:15.000But having them, you know, my father, my brothers behind me, that's where that strength came from and everything we went through before the fight.
00:45:25.000But that's why I was so emotional in the cage.
00:45:28.000I mean, you'd be emotional anyways for a title fight, but, you know, it was something else.
00:45:35.000Just to get there, you know, and have that opportunity.
00:45:44.000And you could really, Mauricio, he's right there with his hands like...
00:48:21.000When we were at the press conference and we were going off for the face-off, you know, all this camp, we're always yelling a bunch of things.
00:48:29.000And, you know, when we were walking up, one guy yells up to me, dead man walking!
00:48:36.000And of course, immediately in my mind, I'm like, I have this brain disease, you know, that, you know, may or may not be an issue here in a couple days when we fight, you know.
00:52:17.000I'm training at the Onnit campus, getting great training down there.
00:52:22.000You know, getting my camp going and I get this call from Dr. Healy and we talk and he is very adamant that I should not continue fighting and he says it's a mistake that I was approved and able to fight.
00:54:22.000We're like, am I going to get approved?
00:54:25.000I'm driving up from Austin to corner one of my guys at the border of Oklahoma and Texas for his Bellator debut.
00:54:38.000And so I'm at Bellator like the next day.
00:54:43.000This call I got from Dr. Healy was on Thursday.
00:54:46.000Friday, I'm driving up to Bellator to corner one of my guys.
00:54:49.000And so I'm there and I end up talking to Rich and I tell Rich, hey man, I just got this call.
00:54:56.000I'm a little nervous, you know, because in my mind up to that point I thought, well, since Europe approved me, I should be okay to continue getting approved and continue fighting.
00:55:09.000And so I'm like, man, maybe we need to go ahead and start the process now.
00:55:28.000Ian Matthews, he coordinates all the medicals for Bellator.
00:55:33.000We start getting organized, and literally a little over a week later, I'm flying out to L.A. to see doctors here and check up on everything, get new scans, and see what they say.
00:56:49.000He's a younger guy though, but he has a lot of experience with people with cavernoma.
00:56:55.000He's actually, I mean, that morning he actually operated on someone Before we saw him that had cavernoma and had a bundle very similar to mine, almost in the exact same location.
00:57:08.000It took him less than an hour to get it out, and that person walked away.
00:57:14.000I can't tell you the specifics of the surgery, but...
00:57:18.000I mean, they're able to go in, and because it's on the outer rim, they can pull it out, and it's a very minimal turnaround as far as your recovery.
00:57:33.000I mean, the person got up and walked away.
01:00:16.000Their first Bellator Japan on New Year's Eve.
01:00:19.000And I thought, oh, with Musashi's history in Japan, maybe we could fight there.
01:00:23.000But they wanted us in L.A., which was fine.
01:00:26.000But, you know, starting to see that, hey, these big arenas and, you know, really just like the big shows were right there, like at grasp, you know, putting on for my team, for my family, and, you know, for where I'm from.
01:00:43.000Like, we're about to be there, you know.
01:00:48.000And, you know, so, like, I was super excited, super excited for this fight.
01:00:55.000But Bellator, they say, okay, we're going to get this into California sort of under the table.
01:01:03.000You know, we're not going to put an official application because if they deny, you know, Now, that'll be two commissions on paper that say no.
01:01:13.000And so, you know, they kind of put this into the Athletic Commission's hands.
01:01:21.000Andy Foster of the California State Athletic Commission said, hey, you know, we have a guy who has this condition.
01:01:29.000Just tell me what you guys would do with this situation.
01:03:25.000Imagine who else could be out there with something either in their living a regular life or maybe in an extreme life where they're doing combat or, you know, in some sort of extreme sport where they're getting hit in the head.
01:03:40.000But it was never required of them to get a scan done.
01:03:46.000And they never just had an issue, so they never thought about it, you know?
01:03:50.000And you don't really know what's going on up there until you get it looked at.
01:06:27.000I mean, it's a low-risk surgery, but why take that risk if you're not having symptoms?
01:06:32.000The treatment or the care is always just to keep an eye on it, see how it develops, and if you start having some problems, then we're going to go in there and remove it.
01:06:42.000But if you say that you're indefinitely on the sidelines, it seems to me that unless you get it removed, you're permanently on the sidelines.
01:07:23.000And this is how I wanted to end it, you know, as the champ trying to Submit myself as one of the great champs of this era and defend that belt as long as possible and say goodbye.
01:07:41.000I still have hope that if I can continue seeing more doctors and getting more knowledge, Andy Foster from the Athletic Commission has recommended another doctor to see.
01:08:06.000But he recommended another doctor at UCLA that actually used to work on the Athletic Commission that could be a big help.
01:08:15.000I'm right in the middle of this, so I'm just going to keep seeing more doctors and try to learn more about this.
01:08:22.000If it's really unsafe and I'm not going to get approved ever, I finally got to a place where I can accept that and I'm going to move forward on with my life teaching and doing what I do at home and with all of my students worldwide.
01:08:40.000But if I'm still getting people like Dr. Wong and the doctor I saw in Brazil And I can find more doctors who have experience with this.
01:08:52.000If they keep saying that they think it's okay, and I can have hope of getting approved, I'm going to keep fighting for that.
01:09:02.000What states could approve you right now?
01:09:06.000Well, that's tricky to know because, you know, as far as in the U.S., only New York and California require brain scans.
01:09:15.000And so that's, you know, a big thing of what I want to talk about, you know, or what I wanted to bring awareness to is like, All these other states don't require scans.
01:09:25.000So if you fight in those states, to me, it's of your best interest to, on your own, if you have the means, if you have insurance or whatever, get a scan done to see what it looks like.
01:09:43.000But I'm hoping that through this we can figure out If cavernoma is safe or not, the more doctors I have looking at this and talking about it, bringing awareness to it, that we're going to learn and understand more of this disease and if it's possible or if it's not possible.
01:10:03.000But I'm trying to keep the hope alive that if it's six months, a year, even two years, that maybe I can at least get one more, at least get one more.
01:10:13.000But the thing is, them putting me in a state that doesn't require a scan doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to get approved because these other commissions have a responsibility to speak up and say, hey, we don't think it's of his best interest health-wise to compete.
01:10:42.000And they opened up a time for me to come out next month and speak with them face-to-face and get to see the people that are making the decisions and learn more and understand more of their position and how they feel about it.
01:11:00.000And I'm just trying to gather up as much information in the meantime.
01:11:04.000Would it be possible to do that with Dr. Wong?
01:12:28.000To how we don't know what's going on up there.
01:12:32.000And something could happen, you know, and you don't have an answer to it.
01:12:38.000But if you knew what was in your brain, maybe you would have that answer.
01:12:42.000Yeah, it seems like such a tricky situation to be in because if you do decide to do something about it, you really kind of almost have to do it now.
01:12:53.000Because at 36, with a full year off of no sparring at all, Or he said six months to a year.
01:13:00.000So he would have to see you a couple times, maybe do another scan and see where you're at.
01:13:45.000And is there anything that mitigates this?
01:13:46.000Is there any medication or diet or anything that you can do?
01:13:52.000I don't know about treatment like that for cavernoma specifically.
01:13:59.000But I did see another doctor recently through the help of Justin Wren, Big Pygmy, Dr. Amen, who's actually a psychiatrist or psychologist by trait.
01:14:11.000And then he, you know, kind of went into studying the brain fully and he created the SPEC scan.
01:14:20.000He's released numerous, you know, books that were New York Times bestsellers on TED Talks.
01:14:27.000And I actually saw him just a little over a week ago.
01:14:31.000And he has some different supplements that he recommends.
01:14:37.000He also talked to me about using the hyperbaric chamber.
01:14:41.000Not the hard shell hyperbaric chamber because he thinks that might be too much pressure.
01:14:47.000But like the soft one that you can zip up.
01:18:07.000Okay, so folks that are just listening to this, it says brain stereotactic radio surgery at the Mayo Clinic, and it looks essentially like an MRI machine.
01:18:17.000And they got this guy bolted down, his head is kind of screwed into this fucking harness, so I guess he can't move.
01:18:24.000And they roll you into this machine, and what does this machine do?
01:21:56.000And so, you know, you could have this and not have any idea about it, obviously, just like me.
01:22:06.000And so in so many ways, the fact that I fought, you know, helped me.
01:22:12.000because it was required for me to get this done.
01:22:15.000And thankfully, I found out now before anything happened, but I want to learn more and try to understand this and see, you know, because so many people say, I mean, look, I can show you the doctor letter from Dr. Wong I can show you the doctor letter from Dr. Wong and look at the percentages that he's talking about here of, You know, 0.25%, you know, I don't know if you want to read it.
01:22:45.000So his concern is that Well, he doesn't have a concern.
01:22:51.000The Athletic Commission's concern is that the European Commission has rejected you, and then California is taking the opinions of a panel of doctors, some pro, some con.
01:23:05.000But you think that this Dr. Wong guy is the one who knows the most about it?
01:24:39.000But jujitsu, that's going to be there forever.
01:24:45.000It took a lot of soul searching and talking and just sort of meditating and getting to a place where, because working so hard to get to this point, You know, and seeing those big shows and finally, you know, going to start getting paid well, you know what I mean?
01:25:07.000Yeah, I just got a new academy and definitely was thinking that, you know, the championship fight paychecks were going to help pay off the investment that I put into the school, you know, and just different things that I, you know, have worked so hard for, but I felt like it was kind of getting taken away from me.
01:25:25.000And I had to really process and talk to all my loved ones and And I've gotten to a place where I know I'm going to be fine if I never get to fight again.
01:25:36.000I still have so many things to be grateful for.
01:25:42.000You know, learn more and hopefully through this experience help others that may have this condition or something else if I can just help people get a scan, you know, and just know and be able to rest assured that they're okay or learn to find out that maybe they have something that they need to take care of in their brain.
01:25:59.000Now is this a condition that will require you to get regular evaluations to make sure it's not progressing?
01:27:01.000And that's what I'm trying to learn about and figure out and see if it's safe or not.
01:27:06.000I don't want to do anything dangerous to my health.
01:27:10.000But if it's possible and it can be done in a safe way, I definitely...
01:27:15.000I just now feel like I'm tapping into my MMA black belt level now.
01:27:22.000So if doctors come to a new, more in-depth understanding of this disease and what the consequences or the risks are, it may be possible that they would say, you know what, we were a little bit hasty or we didn't have all the facts.
01:27:37.000Now that we do, we feel like you could fight.
01:27:59.000Yeah, I'm just going to keep trying to see the best people that I can.
01:28:02.000And so is there a guy, like a nationwide guy, like one person that stands out that's a cavernoma expert that you should see or have you seen basically those guys yet?
01:28:43.000As well, to get more light on people that actually have, you know, sort of experience dealing with combat athletes that may have this condition.
01:29:39.000Good feeling out of the fact that you were able to overcome that camp because that seems like probably one of the most trying times of your career I mean that that's to do go through all that to find out about that while you're flying to Curitiba blow your hamstring out get through all that stuff and still Be Gagor Monsasi to win the title.
01:29:58.000I mean that it is that is an amazing accomplishment Thank you.
01:32:22.000And obviously, I'm very happy that I won.
01:32:25.000But either way, the where I had to dig to be successful in that fight and the experience, the journey, learning so much about myself and the ride that we did.
01:32:40.000I mean, we had this dinner the night before the fight and after the weigh-ins and everything with all my most cherished loved ones, you know.
01:32:55.000And everyone took a minute to say something special about the process and, you know, me getting to this point and, you know, they're my wrestling coach and jiu-jitsu.
01:33:09.000You know, all these people, my parents, my girl, like, they all said something special about The family that we have, us being together, and then me, you know, getting to that moment.
01:34:36.000I think that's very good advice, especially coming from someone like you that just experienced this incredible turnaround in your life, this big twist of fate.
01:34:45.000So Bellator is aware of where you stand.
01:34:49.000Have they talked to you about stepping down and about having a new title fight or are they prolonging it and waiting to see with more results and more different doctors weigh in on us?
01:35:03.000I got together with Scott and Rich and we all sat down and you know once again they're being super supportive Scott's like, man, keep fighting this thing.
01:35:14.000Keep seeing more doctors and let's learn more and see what's possible.
01:35:22.000And they've been very generous with the time and not saying anything to anybody.
01:35:28.000And they were okay with me taking more time.
01:35:32.000But I told them that I felt like this was the best route because I'm I'm also sort of pleading to anyone out there, if you have a lot of great minds on the show and a lot of great minds listening to this show, if there's some doctors, some neurologists, some neurosurgeons out there that have experience and would like to get involved in this process, Please reach out.
01:36:13.000I'm kind of giving them the green light if they want to do something different here coming up in the spring and set up another title fight.
01:36:19.000In my opinion, it should be Salter and Musashi for the 185. Salter has definitely earned his shot.
01:38:18.000Over this next month, but man, we're so excited.
01:38:21.000And just to see my students smiling and happy and excited about the new location and the new beautiful mats and everything is just really, it's been my focus to help get me through a lot of this.