To Your Health September, 2007 (Vol. 01, Issue 09)

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I went to an orthopedic surgeon who said it was just scar tissue and swelling that would eventually subside. The same day, I went to see a chiropractor who specialized in sports medicine.

He felt the back of my knee and said my tibia was halfway out of socket. I had been walking around and even jogging for two months in that condition. So, he adjusted it and instantly, I could bend my leg again. It healed up rapidly after that. I was able to compete in the first UFC two months later. Chiropractic saved me there.

One of my most severe injuries was to my neck when I was training for a world title fight. One of my training partners, when we were warming up, threw a hard left hook and I felt my neck crunch. I finished sparring and after two weeks, the left side of my body continually got worse and worse. My muscles were atrophying and I couldn't lift my arm.

I went to see a neurosurgeon, who did an MRI on me. My spinal cord had been crushed by my disc between C5 and C6 and was almost severed. I got very lucky. He told me I had to have surgery to fuse my discs. I didn't like what he had to say, so I saw two more neurosurgeons, who said the same thing: "You're useless unless you get the surgery." I sent my MRI to my cousin, who was the head of neurology at Johns Hopkins, and he agreed that I needed surgery.

So, I went to see some chiropractors. I did traction, chiropractic care, rehab and strength training. My neck's not 100 percent, but after about a year of rehab, I was able to spar with my world champion fighters, wrestle with them and go 100 percent. My disc has receded almost completely off the spinal cord, so it's proven that chiropractic can take care of you after a severe injury.

Do you have any recommendations for people who just want to stay healthy and fit?

The four most important things are:

1. diet, including supplementation;
2. rest;
3. training with good people; and
4. chiropractic care to maintain the body.

The way I explain it to people who don't understand chiropractic is: If you're walking down the street and you have a rock in your shoe, and it hurts really bad, do you walk to the store to buy some Tylenol or Motrin and keep walking with the rock in your shoe, or do you stop and pull the rock out of your shoe?

There's a disconnect in American society - people get muscle relaxers or painkillers to mask the symptoms of pain but they never address the problem, instead of going to a chiropractor and taking care of the source of the problem and maintaining the body correctly. That's really important. Chiropractic has saved my career numerous times, and that's what I advise my fighters to do.

Who is Pat Miletich?

Pat Militech is a guy who, for whatever reason, whether God saw it as the best path or whatever, has ended up winning a world title and somehow leaned toward helping other kids win world titles and direct people in their lives a bit. I try to serve as a bit of a role model for people. I see my young self a lot in my fighters, so I try to give them as much direction as I can.

Pat “The Croation Sensation” Miletich I was lucky to have great coaches when I was growing up in high school and college - guys that replaced my father. If it wasn't for them, I know I wouldn't have ended up where I am today. So I thank those guys for being in my life. That's really it. I'm just a guy trying to do his best in life to help other people. One thing I've learned through all of this is the more you serve other people in whatever it is you do, the more it ends up coming back to you. The more people that care about you, the better off you are in life. It's important to have a lot of friends and not many enemies.

Is there anything else you want to add?

For anybody out there who hasn't seen the sport, or maybe hasn't educated themselves on the sport, please try and go to a gym where they actually teach it, understand the intricacies of it and how complex it is, and what it takes to actually be good at this sport. Don't judge it until you fully understand it. Over the years, there have been a lot of critics of our sport. Once they realized what it was really about, they fell in love with it. If you give it a chance, you'll understand why it's growing so fast.