Forbes: Thanks To Former Flyweight Ian McCall, The UFC Is Considering Studying Psychedelic Therapy

It’s this cycle of trauma that keeps people in a negative feedback loop and unable to improve their mental health, McCall says. He emphasizes that trauma can come in many, many forms, not just blows to the head and body.

McCall credits his use of high doses of psychedelics with relieving him of the symptoms associated with CTE. While some symptoms like memory loss may still linger, he says they’ve improved dramatically since taking his first dose. Other athletes including former NFL player Kerry Rhodes, former NHL player Daniel Carcillo, and former UFC fighter Dean Lister have also used psychedelics to help overcome trauma to the brain, and were featured on an episode of HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel with McCall in November 2020.

“Everything is tied back to inflammation, and that comes from stress, from trauma, from abuse of the body in one way or another,” he says. “It’s incredible to be able to fix that, and knock some of that down with the purgative effects of psychedelics.” In addition to helping his brain heal, he’s a firm believer that psychedelics have the power to “heal the human condition.”

Today, McCall says he feels like a different person. He hasn’t had a painkiller in years, and says he doesn’t care to. “I’m not hung up on it, it’s over with,” he says. “I’m responsible, I’m efficient, I’m extremely happy, and now I’m able to teach this stuff.”

Together, McCall and Irena Marin, his fiancé and a psychedelic educator and wellness coach, have created an integration program for high-performance athletes and performers called The McCall Method. Together, they’ve developed protocols for integrating the lessons learned during a psychedelic experience for athletes, couples, and families. “It’s a good team effort, and I’m very proud of what we’re doing,” he says.

Introducing Psychedelics To The UFC

So how does a former fighter introduce the idea of psychedelic therapy to an organization like the UFC, which only just loosened its rules around cannabis?

In 2019, McCall found himself discussing the efficacy of psilocybin mushrooms with friend and UFC Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky ahead of a major fight card in Las Vegas. Novitzky was interested but stressed the importance to McCall of a legal approach through a clinical study, as psilocybin is still a Schedule I substance.

“[Ian] came to me saying, ‘Look, I’m trying psychedelic therapy and it’s really working for me. I want to to spread this news and help other fighters because I know what they are going through,’” Novitzky recalled over the phone.

“A little over a year later, I sent Dana a link to the Real Sports episode,” McCalls says. Novitzky confirmed that it was UFC President Dana White’s exposure to the show that cemented the promotion’s interest in digging deeper.

While nothing is set in stone, ESPN reported earlier this week that the UFC has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University, “with an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues.”

“Dana White came to me and gave me a directive, saying ‘look into this, this is something I want to be involved in if there is evidence that it could help some of our fighters,’” says Novitzky. While talks with Johns Hopkins are in the preliminary stages, he says that interest in working together from both parties is high.

The VP emphasized that the UFC is “leaving no stone unturned” when it come to potential treatment and therapy options for its athletes, and is “making sure that we give our fighters the best when it comes to health and safety.”Just last week, the promotion contributed another $1 million to a professional athlete brain study at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, a study of which it is a key funder.

“Anything that we’re going to be involved in needs to be in a very conservative, safe, government-approved clinical trial-type environment, with the backing of reputable medical institutions like Johns Hopkins,” he says. “They get government approval to do these psychedelic studies in a very controlled clinical environment, so early on, it seems to check all of our boxes.”

McCall says right now, his goal is “to be a catalyst for massive change”.  “[The goal is] for people to be able to heal themselves, or go to a clinical study and get it done,” McCall says, noting that psychedelics can benefit all people, not just former fighters. “Everyone should have access to these opportunities.”