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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Rory MacDonald's neck and back injury, suffered in training this past week, is the second significant injury in a row he's suffered in camp prepping for a fight. Last summer, he suffered a bad cut above his right eye that forced a months long delay for his fight with B.J. Penn, and now he's had to pull out of his long-desired rematch with Carlos Condit.
MacDonald's trainer, Tri-Star's Firas Zahabi, said on Wednesday that MacDonald's pushing himself too hard in camp, and he's learning the hard way the errors of that mindset.
"He trains too hard. I tell him all the time," Zahabi said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "Now, I just want him to focus on rehabbing his injury, coming back slow and building up the pace. This is part of fighting. People get injured, but we have to try to keep it at an absolute minimum. It's a big challenge."
"He's too aggressive. I really try to hold the reigns. I tell him, 'OK Rory, we're going to do less today,' and we always end up doing more. Emotions get in the way, and he wants to spar more. I lecture him all the time: You've got to go slow and steady, and gradually increase the intensity closer to the fight. The body can only take so much. And don't forget, he started very young. That's one of the side effects of athletes that start when they're young. They have a young body with a lot of miles."
Zahabi said it's a lesson that MacDonald's going to have to learn, but a common one shared by teammate and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who himself dealt with overtraining as he came up the ranks.
"It's something that Georges learned over time," Zahabi said. "He's a lot more sensible, and sometimes you've just got to learn the hard way, and I think Rory is starting to understand. I had a long talk with him, and I told him he has to respect his body and how his body feels."
MacDonald's recovery time on this injury is unclear at this point, but Zahabi doesn't want to rush anything with the 23-year-old given the nature of his injury.
"Your neck is something valuable," he said. "I was scared he had a tear in his neck or something serious. No ligaments were torn, and nothing is fractured. I'm happy that it's not worse."
Penick's Analysis: It's an issue all athletes, let alone fighters, need to learn at one point or another. Overtraining for anything is detrimental to your health, and can seriously affect your ability to perform at your best when it's needed the most. It also increases the risk for injury, as MacDonald's now come across in two straight fight camps. He needs to protect himself so he can be as effective as possible when fight time rolls around. Getting yourself hurt in camp consistently will not help your longevity as a fighter.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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