I tore my ACL

Explaining my acl tear and how I did it. What happens next after finding out I will need surgery and unable to compete in my sport for about a year.

Have you ever had an injury or surgery that has held you back not only physically, but mentally as well? Losing the ability to function properly in your daily life is exhausting not to mention having to do all the rehab just to get back to a baseline of movement.

You're not alone!

"If you don't use it you lose it."

This is my story of tearing my ACL for a second time. Luckily for my knees and the rest of my body, it was the other knee previously that I had torn. At least now I'll have knees to match.

Fight night, where it all went down.

Flash back to July 24th, as I'm preparing to make my walk to the ring for another thrilling fight. My music comes on, the crowd is roaring, and the lights are bright. Walking into the cage is where I really make my connection with the crowd and get them excited to see me fight.

The bell rings for the first round, and the fight is on. We tap gloves and I proceed with the first punch. The jab lands to her jawline, success, yes, I'm already gaining points! She returns fire and we change a few combinations of punches, which leads me to do my best work- cage control and the ground game. I have her backed against the cage, I throw another punch and drive into her to take a hold of her. We fight for control- she gets get me on the cage for a couple seconds and then I reverse her. She reverses me back. This wont play out for much longer. She tries to spin me off the cage for more control, grabs at my waist and leans hard into the spin. My feet leave the ground for a second as I prepare to land and take control.

The moment my feet landed on the canvas, my right leg took on the majority of that spinning force and buckled out from under me, but luckily my left leg caught up to secure my landing to not fall to the ground. In that moment, popping and crunching happened in my right leg, and I instantly lost stability and control over my right lower half. It took a couple of seconds for a little pain to kick in by being blocked from the adrenaline high, but I didn't matter the fight was still going.

This was round one and only about halfway through it, I wasn't done fighting, I had just begun. After finishing the round and going to my corner, I worked to regain my breath, and started to try and mobilize my knee- it didn't do so willingly. I had been here before, I recognized the feeling and the pain that was starting to occur in my knee. I had a bad feeling about it, but I kept my mouth shut because I had two more rounds to go.

The next round was not my shinning moment, every time I went to strike with speed or force my right knee buckled and I would lose my balance. Going for a take-down to the ground- which is one of my strengths, was definitely no longer the case.

Starting the second break, in between the 2nd and 3rd round, I was receiving the advice and tips from my corner and then I looked at my coaches and told them, " I think I tore my ACL". They asked if I needed to stop or if I wanted to continue. No way was I stopping, I wanted to win this fight, no matter what issue I had going on.

The fight was very close, we thought we had done enough to take home the victory. The commentator announced the judge's scoring- it was close, only one point difference. And then he shouted the girl's name that I was competing against. I felt my whole body slump, my emotional lift had just plummeted. I had just ruined my knee and lost my fight. I am highly competitive and this just messed up not only my whole night, but what I feared to be another year ahead of me.

Fast forward three weeks and the doctor confirmed that I tore my ACL in my right knee and would need surgery. I was scheduled for surgery, but would have to wait three more months before it could be done- there goes 3 months of waiting, just to be in recovery for another 9 months post-surgery, talk about devastating.

Surgery went well, and recovery has not been fun. I am almost 7 months post-op and am now moving freely and with basically no pain. I am building back my strength and working with coaches and trainers to relearn how to move in various martial arts in order to be able to fight again. That day is coming and it is what I keep looking forward to. August 3rd I will be cleared by my doctors and looking to fight again in September.

The hardest of times show us our real character and our willingness to forge forward.

Surgery was really my best option considering that I’m a fighter and a personal trainer. The ACL acts to stabilize the knee while bending and rotating, which I do A LOT of with my lifestyle so I needed it repaired. I had been through this before so I knew what to expect, but in those hard moments my experience didn't help me. My road to recovery was harder than my previous that happened almost 15 years prior.

The mental road is a tough one, but I had great support all around me. My parents, my friends, my teammates and coaches, people I didn't even know were sending out words of sympathy and well wishes for my recovery. For as hard as this injury and surgery was the support and help meant the world. Know that you are not alone, even though it may feel that way. Understand that this moment wont last forever, you can keep moving forward to progress and get back to healthy functionality. And along the way look to those around you for love and support.

-July 24th, 2021, before my fight with my coaches