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View Full Version : Alan Belcher to return, despite fucked up vision



SPX
10-25-2010, 06:19 PM
This is excellent news for me, a real Belcher fan. I just hope he can pull it off.




Trying to solve a Rubix cube is all about basic mathematics. There’s an algorithm involved and once you get it, you can do it with your eyes closed. If you don’t believe me, there’s a guy in Philadelphia who hangs out on South Street and solves a braille Rubix cube without the help of his eyesight. The dude isn’t colorblind, he’s completely blind and he does something the rest of us give up on within the first five minutes of attempting. If this guy had his eyesight, he’d probably do something more fruitful with his life like engineer a robotic puppy the Department of Defense could use to swallow roadside IED’s and poop them out somewhere in the desert where they could detonate without harming anything but a few grains of sand and maybe some strange breeds of cactus.

It’s easy to talk about all the fighters out there that don’t have career-threatening eye injuries to deal with in their upcoming fight camps, but it’s completely different when you’re Alan Belcher. A few months ago, he told the world he might be forced to quit MMA. It all started when he was training in Brazil and suddenly detached his retina, forcing him to come home and undergo emergency surgery in an attempt to fix the damage. After the surgery, he was told the damage was permanent and he might be forced to quit MMA entirely or risk going blind if anything happens to his other eye.

I caught up with Alan at Bellator 33 and here’s a synopsis of what he said:

•His eyesight is still messing with his hand/eye coordination.
•He is getting used to living with it.
•He plans on returning to hard training within a couple of months.
•He plans on making a full comeback to the UFC in the Summer of 2011.

The next time you stub your toe on a staircase and yell obscenities at your clumsiness, remember that Alan Belcher plans to compete with compromised eyesight at the highest level of MMA in the UFC middleweight division. Marinate on that when you complain that you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning and fold your laundry on an otherwise lazy Saturday. If Alan Belcher’s story doesn’t motivate you to do something extraordinary, we hope you the allotted time on the return policy to those Tony Robbins tapes you ordered hasn’t lapsed yet. Seriously, fold your laundry.


http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option= ... anizations (http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3193:alan-belcher-will-return-to-the-ufc-in-the-summer-of-2011-&catid=34:organizations)

Mr. IWS
10-25-2010, 06:26 PM
How the fuck does a commison let a guy fight that cant see?

SPX
10-25-2010, 06:30 PM
Well summer 2011 is still a good way away. I'm sure the expectation is that he will be able to pass whatever tests are necessary or whatever when the time comes.

I, for one, hope he comes back and is better than ever.

Luke
10-25-2010, 06:31 PM
How the fuck does a commison let a guy fight that cant see?


They wont imo. The samething was happening to a guy in boxing and he had to get the retina surgery done two more time (a total of 3) before they got his vision right.

You just cant send someone out there that cant see

Svino
10-26-2010, 03:50 AM
Is the disadvantage associated with being blind in one eye overstated? Not that I've personally ever tried to fight half-blinded mind you, but as a handicap, I'm not sure it's worse than being heavily gassed, and they don't stop fights for that. Especially in MMA, where you can clinch and grapple.

SPX
10-26-2010, 02:00 PM
^^^ I think it affects your depth perception, but I have to believe a smart fighter could figure out how to work around it.

Ludo
10-26-2010, 04:48 PM
A smart fighter would have to have the right skill set to work around it. Belcher isn't a great clinch guy or anything and I really hope he doesn't come back if he's not fully healed. I like watching him fight but I would hate to see a guy suffer permanent vision loss or go completely blind in that eye because he wasn't fully healed.