Former Bellator fighter Ryan Curtis has suffered a severe training injury, breaking his back, neck, and dislocating his spine, which has left him with no movement in his legs or left arm and will prevent him from ever fighting or training in MMA again.
Ryan Curtis, an ex-Bellator fighter, has endured a brutal training injury. The news came from Leah McCourt, a featherweight contender and close friend of Curtis. She broke the news on social media, revealing Curtis had injured his back, neck, and spine during a Thursday training session. McCourt also shared a GoFundMe page to help Curtis and his family.
Here’s what McCourt posted.
She wrote, “The unimaginable has happened to our beloved Ryan.” The incident took place during a training session on Thursday, 11th January. It’s a life-altering event.
“Ryan has suffered a broken back, broken neck, and dislocated spine,” McCourt continued. The injury also caused trauma to Ryan’s spinal cord. The damage is classified as the most severe that can happen to a spinal cord. He was rushed to the Royal in Belfast and underwent emergency surgery.
“Currently Ryan has no movement in his legs or his left arm,” she added. The road ahead is unknown. It will involve at least five months of him in hospital, followed by a further period of time with a specialist spine team. There is no exact end date to when this treatment will be complete.
Curtis has been a professional MMA fighter since 2015. He holds a 6-4 record. His most recent fight was this past April at a Cage Warriors event in Dublin, Ireland. He lost to Nicolas Leblond via first-round submission. Curtis also previously competed for Brave CF and was victorious in his lone Bellator appearance in February 2019.
“Ryan will never be able to do what he loves, and fight or train in MMA again,” McCourt wrote. It’s a sport he has dedicated his life to from the age of 11.
“Ryan will be out of work for the foreseeable future,” she added. We are trying to take any additional load or stress off Ryan’s family and daughter by creating a page to raise some funds to help towards rehabilitation, vital treatment, recovery, and supporting his family.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor also sent out a message of support for Curtis after learning about his injuries.
“Sending my support and well wishes to Dublin MMA fighter Ryan Curtis after suffering life changing injury in practice,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “Here is a link to his go fund me , he has a young daughter and the family needs our support.”