Update October 26, 2022 – Anderson Silva provided a prepared statement stating he ‘misspoke’ about being knocked out with the following
“One, I was NEVER knocked out in sparring. I misspoke in that interview as I sometimes do when interviewing in English and exaggerated the normal back-and-forth action that occurs in sparring.
“Second, this sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview with MMA Weekly was done on Sept. 13 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn’t recent.”
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This week Anderson Silva gave an interview admitting he was knocked out not once but twice training for the Jake Paul bout.
He says his coach had him knocked out to help him ‘prepare for war’. Go to the 7:30 mark of the video.
If true there are a few things worth noting.
- You don’t toughen up your brain by taking brain damage. You weaken it.
- If a coach is exposing an athlete to brain injury to prepare for a tough bout they are grossly uninformed
- If Silva is not lying the Arizona Commission needs to pull the bout.
There are mandatory medical suspensions following KO’s in competition. The Association of Ringside Physicians recommends the following when an athlete is knocked out
If a combat sports athlete sustains a KO with LOC secondary to blows to the head, it is recommended that he or she be suspended from competition for a minimum of 90 days. It is also recommended that the fighter refrain from sparring for 90 days as well.
It does not matter if a knockout happens in a bout or in training. The brain can’t tell the difference. If Silva was knocked out twice in training camp the bout needs to be called off. If this is nothing more than cheap promotion Silva should learn the same lesson Jake Paul learned when talking about CTE.
Combat Sports Law 