Sometimes, with the intense demand put on a fighter’s body, even impressive wins can lead to long lay-offs for mixed martial artists. This is the case with the UFC’s Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who is now recovering from shoulder surgery for the second time in three years. In 2010 Velasquez went under the knife after his surprising manhandling of Brock Lesnar to repair his right Rotator Cuff. The recovery from which has caused his absence from the octagon for nearly a year. The Champ is currently recovering from his most recent surgery to repair the Labrum in his left shoulder, this after arguably his most impressive fight against Junior Dos Santos in October of 2013. Velasquez is rumored to be missing in action until sometime in November to ensure he is as close to 100% as possible.

It is very common for fans of combat sports to hear terms such as torn Labrum or ruptured ligament thrown around during an injury report, but what do those words actually mean and what, if any, future implications do such injuries have on our favorite athletes? Let’s take a look at the Labrum.

To understand the function and importance of the Labrum, we first must understand a little about how the shoulder is different from other joints in the body. The shoulder, or gleno-humeral, joint is a ball and socket joint formed between the head of the humerus (the upper arm bone) and a cup like depression of the shoulder blade. The issue with this joint is that the “socket” is fairly flat and slightly undersized for the “ball”, imagine a grapefruit sitting on a saucer. The Labrum is a rim of fibrous tissue that surrounds the “ball” and deepens the “socket” stabilizing the articulation while allowing for the shoulder’s amazing range of motion.

Even the shoulders of mere mortals can become damaged from normal wear and tear and repetitive motion, so when you take into consideration the incredible forces generated and endured by high level combat athletes it’s amazing that there aren’t far more injuries. Ballistically shooting in for double leg takedowns, then lifting and slamming an opponent weighing well over 200 pounds, or shoving Junior Dos Santos up against the cage and delivering blow after staggering blow, eventually starts to tear or fray the Labrum. As the Labrum is damaged further it is unable to heal itself and this leads to weakness and instability of the shoulder.

In moderate to severe cases the shoulder requires surgery to repair the Labrum and restore strength, and comfortable range of motion. After the surgery is completed it takes a prolonged period of time for the Labrum to anchor itself completely to the shoulder blade, and also for the frayed or torn tissue to become strong again. Once it is healed, the Labrum is gradually given stress to ensure that the healing process isn’t interrupted and also to give the shoulder the best chance to return to full strength and mobility, this process cannot be rushed and explains the lengthy recovery times we have seen from the current king of the heavyweight division.

Given the current level of surgical care afforded by top level athletes, and the scientific approach that most training camps employ to rehab, strengthen, and train the injured shoulder, there is no reason to believe that Velasquez will perform any differently than he has in the past.

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