Encounter: Cell & Molecular biology in relation to the UFC

This last weekend, a group of us (my boyfriend, his friends, his sister, and I) met up to watch a UFC fight that was taking place. As the commercials came on, my boyfriend's sister, who is also a biology major, and I began to talk about fights and how UFC athletes are a extremely high risk for injury, especially traumatic injuries, such as concussions, broken bones, and torn ligaments. We continued to talk about a fight in which Conor McGregor had lost to Dustin Poirier due to breaking his ankle in the first round. Injuries can be devastating to a fighter's career and overall health and so we mentioned how effective prevention and treatment strategies are crucial. In Conor McGregor's case, despite him being out for approximately two years now, he has appeared to fully recover and be better than he was before. My boyfriend's sister and I continued to talk about how trainers and fighters develop strategies for conditioning and strengthening these tissues to reduce the risk of injury and how understanding the way bones respond to mechanical stress and the factors that influence bone density help fighters design training programs to improve bone strength. We mentioned how the knowledge of cell and molecular mechanisms of inflammation can help in the treatment and prevention of injuries as well. When Conor broke his ankle, there was excessive inflammation, and while inflammation is a natural response to injury, excessive inflammation can lead to tissue damage and a delayed healing process, which is when we concluded that was why he has been out for so long. This reminded us of the importance of cell and molecular biology and how it is almost always, if not always, around us, even when we may not notice it. 

Conor McGregor suffer horrific broken leg in first round with career in doubt as he loses to poirier at UFC 264. (n.d.). https://www.the-sun.com/sport/3259995/conor-mcgregor-video-broken-leg-ufc-264/