Recounting concussion, T.J. Grant fires back at 'idiot' conspiracy theorists

For the past month, T.J. Grant (21-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has been living inside his own head. After suffering a concussion – during a grappling session, of all things – Grant has been praying his brain would heal in time for him to compete at UFC 164. Now that it hasn’t, Grant is disgusted by those questioning his will.

“Conspiracy theorists are idiots and douchebags,” Grant told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I don’t even know why I addressed it, to tell you the truth. You see people writing these things, and for people to think that I would do that for what? A couple dollars? The potential money that comes in from winning a world title, that was my 100 percent focus. That’s why had it been any other fight, everyone would have known about this a couple of weeks ago. But you obviously want to hold off for a title fight.”

By virtue of an impressive five-fight win streak in the UFC’s lightweight division, not to mention a UFC 160 thrashing of perennial contender Gray Maynard, Grant earned a shot at current champ Benson Henderson (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC). The pair were scheduled to meet at next month’s UFC 164 event, which takes place Aug. 31 at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center. Only Grant faced a significant hurdle along the way: an unexpected brain injury that stopped him from training.

“I was doing jiu-jitsu in a gi, and I was on top, trying to pass the guard,” Grant explained. “My partner kind of went inverted and went to roll over. When he came back, his heel hit me in the head. It was just a good, clean shot in the head. I was kind of impressed that it didn’t f—ing knock me out. It was a really hard hit, and there were actually two impacts on the same roll. I don’t know which one did it.

“We just kept rolling after the first shot. From that point, later on in the roll he went for a sweep, and like I always would, I used my head to post out and stop it. That was right at the end of the roll, and after that I knew that I rattled my brain a little bit. I never really had a concussion that I can remember. I’ve never felt anything close to it, but it is what it is. I fought Gray a couple weeks before, and he hit me a couple of times, too. So who knows?”

Grant visited doctors, who advised him to give his brain a brief rest. Unfortunately, after spending a full month without any sort of training, Grant realized he wasn’t going to be ready to compete for the title.

“I’ve been kind of basically living like a hermit here for the past month,” Grant said. “I haven’t trained. I haven’t told really anyone except for people really close to me, obviously, and doctors. I’m just going through the process and trying to get better and really not doing too much. I’ve just been laying low.

“I was really just hoping to get healthy by this point and hopefully start some light exercise and then start training for the fight, but I just had to make a decision. I’m still not ready to go back to training, and I just made the best decision I possibly could. Maybe I’ll be healthy in a week or two, but maybe I’ll take another bump in the head. That’s not going to be good. Back-to-backs aren’t good. So I’m going to give myself a little time to heal and see what’s next for me.”

With Grant out of the picture, Henderson rival Anthony Pettis (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) was awarded a crack at the UFC title. While many fans admitted they were excited for the opportunity to see a second fight between the two men who closed out the WEC, not to mention combined to offer the world the legendary “Showtime” kick, some couldn’t help but wonder if Grant’s injury was just a little too convenient. After all, Pettis’ hometown just happens to be the host city for UFC 164, and “Showtime” had openly lobbied for the fight.

Grant finds that talk preposterous.

“I mean, I’m obviously disappointed,” Grant said. “I would never give up a title shot if I thought I could fight. If I had a knee injury and thought I could go into the fight at 50 percent, I would definitely do that because it’s a knee injury. But I’m not messing with my brain. At this point, I just want to heal up and get back to fighting.”

Unfortunately for Grant, he doesn’t yet know exactly when that will be. Doctors have said he’s moving in the right direction, but recovery time for brain injuries is difficult to predict.

“There’s really no timetable, but I’m seeing that I’m getting better every day,” Grant said. “You have little setbacks and stuff like that, but I’m able to do a lot more. I haven’t started exercising, but I can be a little bit active walking around. I can play with my kid without getting headaches and stuff like that. So it’s getting better.

“No real timetable, but the MRI was clean, and everything is seeming to heal. I just want to make the best decision. I didn’t want to go int here and take another one in the next month or so trying to train for a fight.”

Will there be a title shot waiting when he comes back? The 29-year-old Canadian admits he doesn’t know. He’s got his fingers crossed, but he knows timing and fan desire makes it impossible for the promotion to make any promises. Still, he knows his unbeaten record since dropping down from 170 pounds means he’s right there at the top of the 155-pound division regardless of when he returns.

“(UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva was pretty cool about it, but they can’t make promises that they can’t keep,” Grant said. “There are a lot of things that can happen. He said maybe I’ll get a shot at the winner, or worst-case scenario I fight one more time and get a shot down the road. I’m just down for whatever.

“It’s not like the worst thing that could happen to me. I still won my last five fights. It’s not the end of the world. I still feel like I’m in a good spot, and if I have to fight one more time to get a title shot, so be it. I’m not going to complain about it. I’m just going to go out and do what I have to do.”

For now, that means more time at home, living like a hermit. The itch to fight is there, and you can imagine this setback will ultimately fuel a spirited effort in his next outing, whether or not it’s for the title. So Grant waits. He steams. He continues to live inside his head.

“I would fight through basically any other injury,” Grant said. “But it is what it is. I’m going to try and make the best of a s—ty situation and try to improve whatever way I can in the next couple of months and then get back to fighting.”

For more on UFC 164, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.