So I saw this quote on another thread about how the UFC is taking care of Corey Hill's medical expenses, and a certain quote stuck out to me...
Hill underwent surgery the next morning, where a rod, pins, and nails were set from his knee to ankle joint to help strengthen the bone.
I'm not a doctor, and don't claim to have the details, I'm just hoping to open up a discussion...
If these rods, pins, and nails are to stay in Corey's leg, does that become an advantage for him in later fights? I get kicked in training all the time, and regular bone hurts bad enough, I can't imagine how bad a leg kick from a fighter with a metal shin would feel.
If a fighter breaks their hand, and has it rebuilt in steel, does that make their punches hurt worse? I would imagine they can throw much harder when there is no fear of breaking the rebuilt hand.
I have never had any bones broken and rebuilt in this manner, so for all I know, it may create a bit of a disadvantage mentally and/or physically.
What do you all think about fighting with rebuilt appendages?
No advantage at all, as this is not that rare. One of my training partners that I have been training with for 18+years had the identical same injury. The rod and 4-5 of the 11 or so screws are still part of his shin. It's not an advantage but a DISADVANTAGE. No leglocks on that leg because it can tear the rod or screws loose. It's too risky. There's no noticeable difference checking his kicks.
Slightly different but I once sparred with a guy who was missing one of his legs from the knee down. He thai kicked me with that leg and I said from now on we're just boxing. Getting hit with a steel pipe is not cool.
I have a plate and 6 screws in my left arm from shattering it. It hurts more with the hardware because there is some nerve damage from the surgery. Even when I am holding Thai pads the blunt force causes a shooting pain in my arm. When I was training full time it slowly got better.
Since I've been sitting on my butt for about 18 months and am starting training again, I will just have to deal with the pain until my forearm muscles get more conditioned to the strikes.
Having any type of surgery is a huge disadvantage IMO.
rebel927 - Slightly different but I once sparred with a guy who was missing one of his legs from the knee down. He thai kicked me with that leg and I said from now on we're just boxing. Getting hit with a steel pipe is not cool.
When there is a surgical plate in place (as in Tim's arm) then the plate covers the bone and can indeed be an advantage. The plate can now be used to impart blunt force trauma on your opponent, although as noted earlier this can sometimes cause increased pain for the person with the internal hardware.
When a rod is placed it is inside of the bone and therefore has no effect on impact as it is still the bone that makes contact with an opponent and not the hardware itself. This may or may not make the surgical site stronger, ie. more able to withstand force, but it will give no discernable advantage when striking.
