Spinal/Orthopedic Surgeon requests Stefan Struve to retire at 25 years old!

Thoughts? 
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1564534-dr-johnny-benjamin-25-year-old-heavyweight-stefan-struve-should-retire


"How many times has he been knocked out? I know he's a young man, but he's been knocked out more than a few times ... At some point, someone really needs to ask the question, should he still be fighting? That many concussions, so quickly, and at this young age ... a person has two types of age, chronological and physiologic age. Stefan's license may say he's 25, but in physiologic years, he's much, much older than that, with all the concussive force that he's sustained ... I'm sure nobody will like to hear this, but Stefan Struve really needs to think about retiring."


"If it's not him that will make that decision, then Dana White needs to start talking to him about retiring. The question out there is how many sustained concussions is too many, and according to the latest literature that's coming out, the answer is starting to look like it's somewhere between two and three. That's where you start having permanent changes."

* Edited at 03.13.2013, 1:02 AM ET *

It's all true.  I can't tell you how many concussions I suffered in the military and during kickboxing.  It shows too and I'm only 25.  That's why I stopped kickboxing and only do BJJ now.  A LOT less head trauma...

It really is something to think about. He may be 25 years old, but on the inside he is much older. The guy has already taken a **** load of punishment considering how young he is in his career. That Buentello fight alone had to take alot out of him. But hes still taken so much punishment since then. Don't wanna see such a talented dude retire but if he keeps taking that kind of punishment in his future fights he really should consider. 

The guy fights stupid, hes a tall lanky dude.. Yet he doesn't use his jabs/straights or even kicks. A dude like him would be an absolute killer if he used some teeps and front kicks. He needs to start using that length. In the Hunt fight he stood in the pocket with a guy he probably could have easily beat if he would have used his length .. He either needs to fight like a tall fighter or keep absorbing punishment only to be force to retire early.. His choice. 

This is why I like the Steven Thompson career path. Get really good at what you do in a far less damaging discipline like karate/point sparring (or Judo/BJJ/wrestling) and then transition to pro fighting around 27-28 when your body is peaking physically. I've always thought Struve should have spend more time in the dojo (and gym building himself up to a solid 265) before competing at an elite level.

* Edited at 03.13.2013, 2:52 PM ET *

I've been a huge Struve supporter for years, but I feel inclined to agree with the doctors on this one.  He is way too young to be taking this kind of damage.  His fight IQ doesn't seem to be improving all that much either.  He's very content with just covering up and taking these big shots when he could be staying so far out of range.  He's also able to eat quite a few of them before not being able to continue.  Hell he still wanted to fight after pretty much every T(KO).

It's entirely his decision, but he needs to consider his long-term health and now.

@jitz
"doctors are always saying we need to stop doing ****,
- Because theyre doctors and know WAY more than us non doctors.

what I mean is that doctors are always or at least most of the time are going to disaprove of high risk activities, and will tell you not to do that anymore even if you don't have a bad injury, as a kid I was told by a Dr to stop playing hockey because I broke a finger and it wasn't even during a game


I know he can't keep getting KO'd like that, but at least in this case he wasn't out, he was rocked I mean Hunt broke his ******* shin! 
- Doesnt matter if you dont go out. Going out, has nothing to do with concussions. You can get a worse concussion by not getting knocked out."


yes is true, but typically the loss of consciousness is a sign of a bigger lesion to the brain, and that was my point but you are right even if a person doesn'lt lose consciusness can have a bad brain lesion

It's frustrating to follow Struve and watch him lose like that, its like watching BJ Penn not training for his fights and showing up to the weigh ins overweight or underweight with an IJDGAF face. I'm not saying they are equally skilled but they are similar in the sense that they have/had the potential to be much better than they are.

I really enjoy watching him fight and besides his obvious physical advantages I think he has great skills, I see him get better and better and think that only if he would focus, learn to use his reach and maybe join a decent training camp he could probably be fighting for the title in a few years and maybe even holding it, but if he chooses to continue going ****** in his fights, his career will not be very long.

 

Four years ago and still fighting.