Joe Rogan reveals 'cauliflower ear' fear as he explains life-changing condition that impacts UFC greats
Joe Rogan has revealed the impact 'cauliflower ear' can have on the lives of people who have it.
Cauliflower ear is a condition that is caused by blunt force trauma to your ear, which makes it to look lumpy and deformed.
UFC wresters often suffer from this condition due to the nature of training and impact fights have on the body.
A lot of the times when blows are exchanged in the fight, ears suffer substantial damage, causing skin to separate from the cartilage and form a shape that can disrupt the blood flow.
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Despite it being a serious condition, leading up to a potential hear loss as well, some combat athletes consider cauliflower ear to be a badge of honour.
However, Joe Rogan has explained what exactly having the condition feels like for athletes.
Rogan discusses cauliflower ear
Rogan is considered to be knowledgeable about a lot of things and has one of the most heard podcasts in the world - The Joe Rogan experience.
While discussing cauliflower ear, the UFC commentator said it is difficult to get rid of if it once it stays for a long time.
"That's the worst thing about cauliflower ear, when you get crazy cauliflower ear, they become calcified," said Rogan.
"What happens it the blood pools up and the tissue separates and the blood overtime will be come calcified so it literally becomes rock."
Rogan explained how the ear closes itself and limits hearing once someone has cauliflower ear.
Some of the top UFC fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Connor McGregor, Coby Covington and Leslie Smith have cauliflower ears.
Dustin Poirier is also a fighter who has the condition and he revealed how it felt when he first got it after a fight.
The former UFC Interim Lightweight champion said: "I might have just been getting into the UFC, I might have had a couple of fights in the UFC before and a couple of amateur fights, I've been fighting for years and years before I ever had cauliflower ear.
"I shot in on a shot at Tim Crater's gym against a guy. My ear hit his hip. Being a southpaw, shooting that single leg, the hip is very bony.
"I hit the corner and it hurt in the gym. I went to sleep that night, woke up the next morning, huge purple ear, it was very painful and just from then after that first crack from the cartilage and stuff even after it got drained and all that, it kept starting again."
While draining it does reduce the risk of ear deformity, combat athletes continue practising and are likely to injure themselves which means the only protective measure is wearing proper headgear.
Godwin Mathew