ADCC eye infection continues to spread among BJJ stars
This years ADCC seems to have been the biggest ADCC to date. Mo Jassim and his team put on an incredible show that showcased the best talent in grappling today. The superb production and incredible atmosphere at the Anaheim venue made it one to remember. The event was also notable for some incredible individual performances from Gordon Ryan, Lachlan Giles and many others.
Mason Fowler
However since the tournamnet finished there have been continued reports of competitors suffering from an infectious eye disease called EKC which seems to have been transmitted at the tournanment. The ADCC do not do prior health screenings before matches so the onus is on the competitors to manage their own personal hygiene.
However it seems that some competitors chose to compete at the tournamnet despite knowing the risk to their opponenents. As a result a number of top BJJ stars have contracted the infectious disease including 77kg champ JT Torres, Mason Fowler, Mahammed Aly, Cyborb, and Orlando Sanchez to name just a few. Cyborb posted his frustration on instagram and blamed irresponsible fighters for costing him loss of earnings from cancelled seminars.
The infection seems to have originated at John Danahers New York team. In the days leading up to the event Keenan Cornelius decided to withdraw from the competition as he had contracted the infection and did not want to pass it on to his fellow competitors. He has since stated on the Matburn podcast that he felt it was not fair to compete and did not want to be known im BJJ community as someone who knowingly took the risk of competing despite have an infectous disease
This same considerstion does not seem to have been shared by his fellow training partners at Danahers team. Many people on social media have suggested that Craig Jones is responsible for transmitting the disease to the competition but it seems likely that it was more than one person who is responsible.
Others at Danahers gym including Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon have defended their teammates decision to compete. Their argument seems to be that the disease is not that serious and that others cimpete with other skin infections and flu all the time.
What do you think? Should there be mandatory health checks at large tournaments such as the ADCC for infectious diseassees such as staph and EKC? Or do you think it is ok to compete at major events with such diseases if the condition does not have any serious implications long term.
