Brock Lesnar medical update for November 17
By Jim Murphy November 17th, 2009The latest word on Brock Lesnar’s health is as follows: Dana White has said on his Twitter account and elsewhere that Lesnar had ‘minor surgery’ today and is ‘feeling better’ though he’s not ‘out of the woods’. There’s been some speculation that Lesnar is suffering from diverticulitis but my limited understanding of that is that its not a particularly serious situation. Granted, its not pleasant but its also not something that would have been reported by everyone from the top of the UFC down as ‘career threatening’.
While there’s no doubt that something is wrong with Lesnar, the way the situation has played out is somewhat strange. If its something like diverticulitis, why would Dana have spoken in such grave tones–suggesting that Brock should ‘check into the Mayo Clinic’ for something that any decent colorectal surgeon could deal with? Dana certainly is prone to overreaction–and his ashen look and somber tone could have more to do with the loss of 1,000,000 buys for UFC 108 with Lesnar out than anything else. Lesnar’s camp has only confirmed that whatever is ailing him isn’t ‘life threatening’ but the fact that they didn’t add ‘career threatening’ to that disclaimer is significant.
Of course the other ‘elephant in the room’ is the accusations of steroid use that have followed Lesnar since his time in the WWE. To be fair, he’s never tested positive for banned substances during his run at the NFL or his MMA career. Still, some have suggested that he may be suffering from a more severe degenerative condition possibly related to prolonged steroid use. Other athletes–notably former WWE champion ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham have suffered debilitating health effects from prolonged steroid use. Graham has been very candid about his drug use and the health impact so this isn’t speculative in his case). He’s been rendered sterile and blown through a liver, as well as suffering kidney problems and other issues.
Some have suggested that Lesnar just wants privacy with this situation and maybe that’s the case. Still, its hard to get past the air of gravity that everyone from Dana White down has attached to this. Were it something as simple as diverticulitis, it would seem that Dana would have just said that. As late as yesterday, White was suggesting that Lesnar ‘was in bad shape’ and that he was hoping to get him into the Mayo Clinic or other top medical facility. That could be out of a fiduciary interest to the Fertittas–who have a lot of money invested in Lesnar. There’s definitely precedent for this in other sports–if a NBA player tweaks a knee the team will frequently bypass the local medical community and send the injured player to Dr. Max Andrews in Birmingham, AL who is considered the best sports medicine surgeon in the world.
So the more we know about Lesnar’s medical issues, the less clear everything is. We’ll keep you posted.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I’m really not liking how you’re speculating about steroid use in this article. That’s pure sensationalism right there. You must not know anything about diverticulitis if you don’t think it’s career threatening. The pouches that form in the intestines can explode (which is what I heard happened in Brock’s case) and essentially are a toxic bomb in the body that can damage the other bodily organs. If the intestines are not saved there’s also a chance the guy can have to wear a bag for the rest of his life.
So instead of come up with wild accusations about steroid use, why don’t you do your homework and update your admitingly limited knowledge of diverticulitis before you post this smut.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Smut? Seriously, if you know anything about the involvement of Vince McMahon with steroids that question has to be asked. There’s a reason that every wrester that entered the WWE in the past 20 years magically got larger and more muscular almost immediately. That’s why McMahon was indicted on Federal steroid distribution charges, after all. And its not like we’re anywhere near the first to bring up steroids in relation to Lesnar. It’s a real touchy point with him–he’s stormed out of a number of interviews when the question has even been raised in very general terms. And while I’m no proctologist, there sure seems to be a lot of people concerned about a situation that as we noted in the post could be handled by any decent colorectal surgeon were it merely a case of diverticulitis. And were it as simple as that why not just say so in the first place? If George Brett can cop to suffering from hemorrhoids, than Lesnar’s camp could just confirm the diagnosis and that’s the end of the story. I did some research last night and again today and can’t find another historical case of a professional athlete this young being forced to call it a career because of the ailment. It certainly ain’t a good thing, but unless there’s some other health complications shouldn’t be something that could potentially end his career.
We’re hoping for the best with Lesnar’s medical condition. But knowing a number of elderly people who have overcome diverticulitis fairly easily, it strikes us as overkill to suggest checking Lesnar into the Mayo Clinic were that all that was going on here. The intestines of 32 year old athletes simply don’t fall apart. No one is saying that Lesnar is on steroids (or as some others have speculated HGH) but there’s something more to the story that’s causing a 32 year old guy in great physical shape to potentially be facing the end of his career.
Google ‘Brock Lesnar steroids’ and you’ll find plenty of articles both from his past and related to the current situation he’s facing. We have no interest in sensationalizing this situation and, frankly, not much interest in discussing another man’s intestinal issues. Still, if you’re not able to see that its at least a plausible scenario you’re burying your head in the sand. There’s plenty of websites that’ll give you the UFC/Zuffa spin and sugarcoat every situation involving them or one of their fighters. We’re not one of them. We’re not Lesnar fanboys, but if you look at our past writing on him here and at my previous MMA site http://www.prophetfighting.com you’ll see that we’ve been positive on him as a fighter since before his professional debut. We’re not trying to bury the guy by a long shot, and he’s a big part of what makes the current MMA scene so interesting. On the other hand, we’re not going to blindly ignore what could be a significant component of this somewhat baffling situation.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
It’s deffinitely something embarrassing or else ESPN would have already uncovered it by now.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I’m not sure that ESPN would have uncovered it–after all, it took them three days to report on Lesnar’s bout with mono forcing the cancellation of his UFC 108 fight. Were it a NFL player they would have dispatched a team to dig through his garbage by now. Your point is well taken though–it sure seems like a lot of secrecy and concern were it a simple thing to explain, regardless of how serious it is. Personally, I’m conflicted on how best to report on this. On one hand, Lesnar has a right to his privacy. I know I wouldn’t want a bunch of MMA writers trying to figure out what was wrong with my intestines. On the other hand, he is the biggest PPV draw in the sport right now and whatever is wrong with him has longterm implications not only on his career but on the UFC as well.
November 20th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
lesner is a roided growth hormone freak who needed his chin tested.if he never fights again with his pre 1993 skills ill be glad.brett rogers would probably have knocked him out.that said it always saddens me when an athlete ends his career from drugs.yes my semi homo wwe fans hes always been roided.passing a drug test is pretty easy especially when you have the motive,means,and moneY.THEY DONT TEST FOR HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE.I WOULD SAY PROBABLE LEUKEMIA OF (MARK KERR)HE ENDS UP AT THE MAYO CLINIC.TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT A CLEAN DRUG FREE FIGHTER LOOKS LIKE.LOOK AT FEDOR,AND BJ PENN THEN LOOK AT LESNER AND GEORGE ST PIERE AND TELL ME THE DIFFERENCE.GOOD LUCK BROCK FAKE WRESTLING NEEDS YOU BACK
November 20th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
There’s been countless stories about the ‘drug testing’ in the WWE. As in, the superstars get advanced notice of ‘random’ tests, etc. I’m really not concerned with who is on performance enhancing drugs and who isn’t, but to not acknowledge that Lesnar comes from an environment where steroid use has ranged from commonplace to mandatory over the years is foolish.
December 4th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
LOL I highly doubt that Brett Rogers would have the skill or ability to knock out Brock Lesnar… Weither or not Lesnar has and still engages in steroid use is complete speculation, the guy is an amazing athlete and deserves respect. Brock is and will remain to be the Heavyweight champion, Bill over here probably thinks Fedor can beat Brock. What a joke, if Brett Rogers (with little to no wresting background) can do what he did from full guard to Fedor than I highly doubt Fedor has a chance on the ground with Brock. That being said the stand up game is a completely different story. Brock is the champion. NUFF SAID