Long time Irish MMA fighter Conor 'Done Deal' Dillon has been forced to retire from MMA just days before his fight at BAMMA
He revealed this unfortunate news via his facebook page stating that it was due to an abnormality in an MRI scan he went for ahead of his fight.
"So I got major bad news yesterday evening," Dillon said. "My MRI scans for MMA have shown up an abnormality on the main blood vessel to the left side of my brain which the doctors think was caused by getting the chicken pox when I was 14. They have ruled out that it was caused by blows to the head or that I was born with it. So it looks like I have trained and fought with it all these years. Long and short of it is I cannot get clearance to fight pro MMA anymore, to say I'm devastated and shocked is an understatement."
A pro fighter since 2009, Dillon has fought a wide variety of Irish fighters from Joe Clarke to Paul Cowzer to Steven McCombe to Decky Dalton, but none more famous than Conor McGregor.
One of the first Irish MMA events I attended was Cage Contender 12 back in 2012. Dillon fought recent Bellator signing Brian Moore at the event and I specifically remember chuckling to myself at his unique nickname - 'Done Deal' - and his woolly hat he wore to the cage.
When you take a step back and look past the unfortunate news you realise that thankfully nothing happened to Dillon during his fighting career. Thankfully this happened during a routine scan and not after something serious that might have happened in an MMA fight.
Maybe this is a precursor for the recent debate about amateur fighters getting a one-time MRI scan to see if they have any pre-existing conditions. Maybe something good can come from this unfortunate and sad situation for Dillon. But all that it is up for the powers that be in Irish MMA and all its members to decide and see if they take this news into consideration.
