Ex-UFC Fighter Julie Kedzie Donates brain to science to help advance studies of CTE in Women
Ex-UFC fighter Julie Kedzie has pledged to donate her brain to science.
Kedzie, 42, made her professional mixed martial arts debut in 2004 with the Indiana-based HOOKnSHOOT. Throughout the next decade, she would compete in 29 bouts under a variety of promotions including, King of the Cage, EliteXC, Bodog Fight, Strikeforce, and the UFC.
Since retiring from the sport in 2013, Kedzie has been open regarding her struggles with depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and lack of sleep, which are all symptoms of the fatal brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Also known as CTE, it is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. Studies into the causes and effects of CTE have ramped up in recent years, though the disease can only be diagnosed post-mortem.
‘It seems a very normal thing to do,” Kedzie told BBC Sport while discussing her decision to donate her brain. “I’ve been hit in the head a lot so we might as well see what is in there and get some good out of it for data. If there is a way that I can still keep pushing in this field [of mixed martial arts] and advancing the cause of women, then yeah.”
The Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) has seen a significant increase in the donation of brains from athletes in recent years, although the majority of research into brain conditions has been carried out on male brains.
“I want to give back to the women in this sport because there are all these studies on male athletes’ brains and there might be something completely different from a female athlete’s perspective,” Kedzie added.
The CLF Is Encouraging More Women Like Julie Kedzie to Donate
Dr. Chris Nowinski, a former professional wrestler who co-founded the CLF and holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience, has called for more women to come forward like Kedzie.
“Heather Anderson is not going to be the only woman with CTE and I hope we start changing what we do sooner rather than later,” Kedzie said. “Women obviously need to lead this change. We need to start having these conversations, telling what we know and what we’ve learned from men. Maybe that will give us a faster cultural change than we’ve had with men’s sports” (h/t DailyMail).
Julie Kedzie has been working for Invicta Fighting Championships as a fight commentator and interviewer since she retired from the sport more than a decade ago. In December 2013, Kedzie became the new matchmaker for the female-based fight promotion.
