Original Forbes Post by Amanda Siebert
When mixed martial artist Ian McCall retired from the UFC in May 2018, the fighter was broken in both a mental and physical sense: suffering from a twenty-year addiction to opiates after decades of injuries and thousands of hits to the head, the father and former flyweight contender found himself struggling with thoughts of suicide.
In an exclusive interview following news that theΒ UFC is interested in studying psychedelics as a potential therapy for fighters, McCall details the changes in his life before and after using plant-based medicines like cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms, including innovative products such as magic mushroom chocolates.
Overcoming The Cycle Of Trauma
βThere was a lot of brain damage, a lot of trauma that had happened to me. I was so broken, and it got to the point where I wanted to kill myself,β McCall says by phone.
Victims of repeated head trauma tend to suffer fromΒ chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. While a definitive diagnosis can only be made in an autopsy, several athletes in the UFC, NFL, NHL, and other organizations have opened up about the struggles associated with life after repeated concussions.
McCall, who had been turned onto the healing potential of medical cannabis after it helped his daughterβs rheumatoid arthritis, and then onto psychedelics through friends likeΒ Joe Rogan, began using both to help him heal from some of the mental and physical effects that stem2 from a career of fighting. Among them were memory loss, depression, anxiety, and anger issues.
βI wasnβt able to understand my life and what was happening,β he says. βI couldnβt put things together and I couldnβt be happy. You get so impulsive, you have all this plaque buildup in your brain and youβre not making the right decisions. Everything goes wrong, and youβre in this state of confusion and fear that leads to more self abuse. Itβs a vicious cycle.β
Itβs 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 theyβve 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 ListerΒ have also used psychedelicsΒ to help overcome trauma to the brain, and were featured on an episode of HBOβsΒ Real Sports with Bryant GumbelΒ with McCall in November 2020.
βEverything is tied back to inflammation, and that comes from stress, from trauma, from abuse of the body in one way or another,β he says. βItβs incredible to be able to fix that, and knock some of that down with the purgative effects of psychedelics.β In addition to helping his brain heal, heβs a firm believer that psychedelics have the power to βheal the human condition.β
Today, McCall says he feels like a different person. He hasnβt had a painkiller in years, and says he doesnβt care to. βIβm not hung up on it, itβs over with,β he says. βIβm responsible, Iβm efficient, Iβm extremely happy, and now Iβm able to teach this stuff.β
Together, McCall and Irena Marin, his fiancΓ© and a psychedelic educator and wellness coach, have created an integration program for high-performance athletes and performers calledΒ The McCall Method. Together, theyβve developedΒ protocols for integratingΒ the lessons learned during a psychedelic experience for athletes, couples, and families.Β βItβs a good team effort, and Iβm very proud of what weβre doing,β 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 onlyΒ justΒ loosenedΒ 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.
β[Ian] came to me saying, βLook, Iβm trying psychedelic therapy and itβs really working for me. I want to to spread this news and help other fighters because I know what they are going through,ββ Novitzky recalled over the phone.
βA little over a year later, I sent Dana a link to theΒ Real SportsΒ episode,β McCalls says. Novitzky confirmed that it was UFC President Dana Whiteβs exposure to the show that cemented the promotionβs interest in digging deeper.
While nothing is set in stone,Β ESPN reported earlier this weekΒ that the UFC has been in contact with Johns Hopkins University, βwith an eye toward seeing if the drugs can be helpful for fighters dealing with brain issues.β
βDana White came to me and gave me a directive, saying βlook into this, this is something I want to be involved in if there is evidence that it could help some of our fighters,ββ 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 βleaving no stone unturnedβ when it come to potential treatment and therapy options for its athletes, and is βmaking sure that we give our fighters the best when it comes to health and safety.βJust 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.
βAnything 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,β he says. βThey 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.β
McCall says right now, his goal is βto be a catalyst for massive changeβ.Β β[The goal is] for people to be able to heal themselves, or go to a clinical study and get it done,β McCall says, noting that psychedelics can benefit all people, not just former fighters. βEveryone should have access to these opportunities.β