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Scott Coker Says He’ll Recommend Fighters Who Get KO’d For Brain Study

April 27, 2016 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
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Bellator president Scott Coker spoke with MMAjunkie about his support for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. Some highlights are below:

On new data on the damage to the brain fighters suffer during their career: “It just makes it so alarmingly real.”

On having sent two fighters to the clinic: “As a friend, I said, ‘Look, we’re not going to fight you any more. You’ve got to go get checked out. If the Cleveland Clinic clears you, we’ll bring you back.’ And I have yet to hear from the two athletes we sent over there.”

On Bellator intervening if a fighter starts to show characteristics of long-term damage via the clinic’s new app: “That’s when we have that conversation with the athlete, saying, ‘Hey, maybe it’s time to move on and find the next career’…We’re still going to go by the athletic commissions in how they want to test and how they regulate the sport. This goes above and beyond that. This is going to have to be a situation where we have to look at the athletes and say, if you’re an athlete that’s been knocked out twice, maybe you should get studied by Dr. Bernick. It’s available to you – why wouldn’t you want the real information?”