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Lloyd Irvin

As you may have heard Lloyd Irvin ruptured two discs in his neck/spine in a Judo tournament. We were greatly saddened by the news and we are praying for his speedy recovery. The prognosis is grim but we believe Lloyd will over come it. For those of you who don't know Lloyd, he is an exceptional competitor and teacher. Every little thing helps, don't be afraid to give him a shout out. Here is a letter from Lloyd that is posted on some of the forums:

I want to thank everyone for their words of encouragement on the forum and all of the phone calls I received at the hospital. It really means a lot when you're in a situation like this. I truly value martial arts as much more than fighting, I see it as a way to uplift your community and leave a never-ending mark of your life in a positive manner in which to affect others in a positive manner. That's where my martial arts journey has taken me and although I'm a competitor at heart that will never leave me. In our chosen martial art we always talk about never giving up and rather dying than tapping, well I didn't make it this far in my career to just give up and I won't for those that know me well I'm a fighter and I'm ready for this fight. I just have to make sure I train like it's the fight of my life and with all of the words of encouragement from you I know I can do it.

I'm seeing one of the top spinal surgeons in the country this Monday at 8 am to get a second opinion, my first opinion was to have surgery immediately which the doctor wanted to schedule for yesterday. I told her that I wanted to look at other options first. I was released from the hospital last night and I'm still on steroids but I'm taking everything one day at a time. If anyone has any more stories regarding this type of injury I would love to hear them positive or negative. You can e-mail me at lloydirvin@lloydirvin.com and I'll get the message. Again thanks for the show of support it really makes me feel good to be a martial artist.

P.S. If you've heard of any non-traditional, non-surgical remedies please let me know about this also, I want to explore all options.

Lloyd Irvin Jr.

Paul Creighton

Paul Creighton is fighting BJ Penn in The UFC:

Congratulations to Paul! This is truly a dream come true for Paul and the rest of us here at Combat Athlete. Paul is fighting BJ Penn in UFC 37 on May 10th in Louisiana. We are so excited to see Paul on the show that started it all. We believe that Paul will beat BJ in what will be a very exciting match. If you can't go to UFC 37 be sure to watch it on pay per view or any satellite system. Check out the UFC website at www.ufc.tv for more info.