UFC boss Dana White credits Alex Rodriguez, Orthokine for beating Meniere's

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Like most Massachusetts natives, UFC President Dana White is a Boston Red Sox fan. Unlike most Red Sox fans, he’s now also a diehard fan of New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez.

“I love A-Rod,” White said following today’s UFC on FOX 7 media session. “I’m a Red Sox fan and an ‘A-Rod’ fan. Boston fans will have to deal with it. That guy saved me.”

White’s affinity for Rodriguez is simple to understand, despite the player’s status as one of the biggest stars on the Red Sox’s arch-rival Yankees. It was Rodriguez who reached out to White with a potential treatment option for the UFC boss’ inner-ear disorder known as Meniere’s disease, a debilitating condition that sometimes forced White to lie motionless in a dark, quiet room until intense pain and nauseousness passed.

“‘A-Rod’ told me, ‘Listen, I know you’re going through this stuff. I don’t know if it’s going to help you, but you should try it. Worst-case scenario, this doesn’t work,’” White explained.

Rodriguez recommended White visit Dr. Peter Wehling in Dusseldorf, Germany, in order to take part in a revolutionary treatment known as Orthokine. Rodriguez went through the same procedure in 2011 to address an ailing knee and shoulder.

Invented by Dr. Wehling, the procedure involves removing some of the patient’s own blood, incubating the blood at a slightly raised temperature and than running the blood through a centrifuge to isolate naturally occurring anti-inflammatory proteins, which are then injected back into the patient.

White underwent the treatment this past weekend, and he said the procedure essentially cured his condition, a feat that was not accomplished through a radical January surgery.

“I haven’t felt this good in two years,” White said. “I’m working out like a maniac. I’ve never felt better in my life.”

The UFC boss said he will undergo another treatment session in approximately three months, but he’s excited for the results thus far. White joins a long list of high-profile patients who have take part in the treatment, which as yet to be approved for use in the U.S., including Rodiguez, Kobe Bryant, George Clooney and even Pope John Paul II.

The UFC boss seemed in incredibly good spirits as he recounted the tale and is hopeful his days of dealing with Meniere’s are over.

“I told them, ‘I don’t give a s–t if I start growing a horn out of my head. If you can stop this, I’ll file the horn down,’” White said. “But according to them, there are absolutely no side effects whatsoever.”

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