Mixed martial arts is a contact sport in the truest sense of the term. A physical competition that pits one fighter against another in hand to hand combat is going to have moments that can literally be life altering. In MMA’s modern era, mounting injuries seem to not only be more frequent but also more serious. Injuries have kept some of the sports biggest stars out of competition for years at a time. Fighters like the UFC’s Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dominick Cruz have both recently completed comebacks after recovering from significant injuries, which caused extended layoffs. But these, as it turns out, are the good stories. Too often a fighter gets injured, fades away, and is soon off the radar of the average fan. Former UFC lightweight TJ Grant was set to fight for the lightweight title when a concussion sidelined him. The symptoms of the concussion nagged him into retirement.
Here’s the thing, all the injuries you hear about in the UFC, Bellator, or even a feeder organization like Titan FC are just a small fraction of injures that happen in MMA. All across the country, there are regional shows happening every weekend featuring both amateur and professional fighters. The injuries from these regional shows don’t make the front page; they don’t even make the back page. But these fighters are giving their all to be in the cage competing and more often than not, they walk out of the cage under their own power. However, there is the rare occasion when they need help out of the cage and for Bend, Oregon’s David “Danger” McManis, that moment came last weekend at Budofights 14. McManis is a local favorite who was fighting for the vacant featherweight title, but just sixteen seconds into the fight, his opponent shot in for a double leg takedown and as McManis fell to the mat he somehow managing to fall in such a way that it fractured three of his vertebrae.
Today, David McManis lays in a hospital bed unable to use his legs. This freak injury comes at the heels of a battle that he had recently with cancer. As a result, the medical bills are mounting. The life of an amateur MMA fighter isn’t glamorous and usually spare funds go right back into training. For McManis, there are not spare funds left and he is relying on the support of his community to help see him through his recovery process. I would like to encourage anyone reading this to head over to McManis’ GoFundMe page here and show the Oregonian some support as he begins this long road to recovery.
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