In the past few years, there has been numerous medical studies that link repeated head trauma to early on-set dementia and ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Now, I have broken down these very complex studies into the following sentence for you...Apparently, getting your head repeatedly smashed in is bad for your brain.

Really? Did we not know this already? (Insert your own reference to Muhammad Ali here). What's next, a study saying that repeatedly smacking a hammer in your groin will hurt your chances of having children? If that's so, someone please hit that Duggar guy in the weenie area.

Look, athletes have to be smart about these things. It's up to them to monitor this, not the NFL, nor the NSAC, or the UFC. The problem inherently lies in the "Man Code." Not the man code that says you can't steal another guys' girlfriend, but the man code that says the more punishment you can handle, the better man you are.

Keith Jardine is a perfect example. After getting absolutely blasted by Houston Alexander and getting completely knocked out and concussed, he was back training a few days later and when he got punched in the head, he said "something didn't feel right." Really? You mean that's NOT a good idea? All the guys in the gym clapped for him in some insane "Man Code" validation ritual.

My father was a teacher and a football coach and he used to send kids back in the game after a concussion because it was just a "stinger." Luckily this has changed in football and the same approach should be taken in MMA. I know that guys don't get paid if they don't fight, but they have to be smarter in training and not risk getting these secondary and tertiary concussions which ultimately are the most damaging.

One good thing is a test that's under development is a scan that can read the protein levels in the brain so fighters can have some more information to make better choices.

Fighting is an absolutely beautiful sport, showcasing the strength of the human body and mind. And no fighter is above that principle. They need to keep that in mind as to not hurt the sport by fighting too long and possibly becoming an example of why the sport isn't acceptable. Forget the "Man Code," it's simply not as cool as fighting.