UFC Quick Quote: Detached retina cost Alan Belcher 'Fight Night 22' main event and possibly his career
by Jesse Holland on Aug 10, 2010 11:50 AM EDT
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"I had a detached retina, I just lost the vision in my right eye. It just happened all of the sudden, pretty much overnight. I was training in Brazil, messing around there for a few days and had surgery the day after I came home. I think it happened in training but I don't exactly know when. It's gonna take a couple of months to heal, to be at its peak, so then I'll know how much my vision comes back. I lost a lot of my peripheral vision but I got that back right away but everything is blurry and distorted, pretty much like it was before the surgery. [The Doctor] says it's definitely not gonna get back the same, but at best it's gonna be something like 20/40, 20/60 vision. There's gonna be more surgeries probably even at the best case scenario. Worst case is I don't get any better than this and I'm only working with one eye and then I probably don't want to risk fighting again with only one eye because if I lose that one I'm gonna be blind. I'm not even thinking about fighting right now. I'm just going to wait a couple of months and see where I'm at. It's disappointing because I was on a roll and getting really close to a title, but there's nothing I can do about it, just deal with it. I'll be back in there if my health allows me to."
UFC middleweight Alan Belcher finally gets a spot in a UFC main event as well as his name on the corresponding poster -- only to lose them both after suffering a detached retina while training for his Sept. 15 fight against Demian Maia. "The Talent" tells PureFight.org that he's on the shelf for several months while his eye heals and will likely face multiple surgeries in 2011 to fully correct his vision. If he can't, it may be the end of his promising fight career, illustrating just how dangerous this sport can be both inside and outside the cage.
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well this just sucks
Hope you get better Alan, you make the UFC’s 185 division better. Get well soon.
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."
agreed
he is exciting win or lose, been one of my favourites at MW for a long time
Please don't ever let Carwin fight Big Nog! It would result in death
Can't decide who I hate more, Penn or Edgar
Agreed, he has me as a fan when/if he returns
Besides digging for gold with Cote’s head and having the worst tatoo ever (mad props for both), Belcher is still a very young guy. Wish him the best for a speedy recovery.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." - Albert Einstein
Agree'd the dude always brings it win or lose.
wish him all the best and a speedy recovery.
Wow, that sucks
while he’s out, he should explore that new tatoo removal procedure to get Chairman Mao off his arm.
"Who's da MASTA?!!!"
Damn
Hopefully Belcher’s eye heals up right. Eye problems are always a major pain though. Always the risk of not gaining 100% of your vision back or, in most cases, even less. Hopefully Belcher will get back most of his vision though. Hate to see a good career cut short by an injury.
Yea this is REALLY bad news...
He has been on a roll and he is so fun to watch fight. Add that to a division that is fairly weak as of late and that just hurts to lose him.
I could have seen him easily stringing 1-2 more wins together before getting a crack at the belt.
Get better soon Alan!
"I only want to be known as the best ever. Is that too much to ask?"
-BJ Penn
"I dont know how GSP puts his jeans on with all those people hugging his nuts"... -Dan Hardy
Sucks for Alan, but 20/40 or 20/60 isn't that bad
I’m 20/70 and 20/60 in my right and left eye respectivley and have never worn glasses or contacts. It says I need to on my drivers licence, but I have never worn glasses for more than a few minuits.
"I like being punched... I like... punchin'" ~Gray Maynard
"A black belt only covers two inches of your ass, you have to cover the rest" ~Royce Gracie
Chael Sonnen shocks the world at UFC 117
"I don't work submissions, not because I'm trying to prove anything, but frankly I'm just not very good at them" ~Chael Sonnen
Good to know
but, Alan is certainly in a different situation. One bad shot and like he says- the eye he is talking about now becomes his good eye. Plus, the fact that his vision is poor makes it that much more likely that he will take more shots to the face.
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."
Dave Menne's vision was almost 20/800 when
he was fighting and got the MW belt. Ben Henderson also had way horrible eyesight. 20/60 is not career ending. He’ll have to adjust and increase his defensive acumen but really eyesight is just something commission pretend to care about to look like they’re doing their jobs.
Big Nog for Life
Inventor/supporter of "Gleison Tibau to Featherweight" movement.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Aug 10, 2010 12:05 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
yeah, but when he says 20/40 or 20/60, he's talking BEST case scenario
he may not get anywhere near that good. My sister (an opthalmic technician) says many if not most who get detached retinas never heal back anywhere near normal vision and are often legally, if not completely blind in that eye.
"Who's da MASTA?!!!"
Let’s say, with his case as an example, worse comes to worse and he can’t fight anymore. Would he probably teach somewhere? I’m curious about middle-ish level fighters after retirement. Do they find a day job? Or continue to build off their name with a school (most likely)?
by SKGBJJ on Aug 10, 2010 12:03 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I wouldn't describe Alan Belcher as a middle-ish level fighter
He is one of the best 185 guys in the world. When you are top 15 in the world at something, middleish doesn’t work. Personally, I put him around 5-6 in the world at 185. My opinion though. I doubt he would have trouble with opening a gym. His tattoo will sell itself.
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."
Never been a Belcher fan - but that sucks.
All the best in recovery.
"You stay classey, San Diego!" Bones post Janitor beat down at UFCVersus2
Who's next?
Agree Zino
Dont like him but that does suck. I think its that ugly ass tattoo he has that makes me not like him. lol. That and I just dont think he is as good as people hype him up to be. He is a good fighter but will never sniff a title shot IMO.
have to agree with you mspence.
That being said, I wish him nothing but a full and speedy recovery.
About 6 years ago I had a tumor that was pressing against my optic nerve, then when they removed the tumor my vision on that eye decreased significantly. Granted I’m still 20-20 overall because my good eye “picks up the slack” for lack of a better term, but medical issues in general are nothing to mess around with. No fight is worth losing an eye.
Damn that sucks
If you never fight again. You’d be a sick Muay Thai/ MMA coach Alan.
All the best.
"Be still in the River."
-Unknown Samurai
This really sucks for Alan..
The retina in my left eye detached itself in my tenth amateur boxing match.. it didnt end well for me that night. Now i only have 25% vision in that eye, and it is blurry at that.. I dont even like this guy, but I hope he works through it.
In fighting and everyday life you should be determined, though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness, yet not recklessly; your spirit settled, yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak, and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.
does the blurriness
give you other problems besides the obvious? Headaches? dizziness? Etc?
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."
It does
The original problem with my eye was that i was hit with a bat in the eye while younger, and when I was boxing it aggravated it more. The blurriness gets me disoriented at times, no peripheral vision, the floaters.Some days I wake up with such a sharp pain in my eye that I cant see period. This is an extreme case of it though, not everyone has the same problems from the detached retina.
In fighting and everyday life you should be determined, though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness, yet not recklessly; your spirit settled, yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak, and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit.
Sucks for Belcher, hope he can recover
I am really high on Belcher and think he could be fighting for the title very soon. Hopefully this injury won’t cost him his career, but if he stops fighting, I don’t think anyone will blame him. If his eye doesn’t heal, at least he won’t be able to see that ugly ass tattoo on his arm!
"Howard, you really think they're gonna let you put out a whole movie just about tits?"
"Sure, who doesn't like tits?"
--The Aviator
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