UFC 249

COVID 19 – I hope that you and your families are staying safe during the coronavirus. Please take care.

I usually have the living room to myself in the morning to do my pre-breakfast glucose busting exercise.  Today at 6:00am my brothers were already tactically sprawled around ready to watch UFC 249 – a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) combat sports events. UFC 249 (that’s the 249^th event to be hosted) is the first major combat sporting event to be broadcasted live globally from the US since the coronavirus lock-down measures were imposed.

As someone who enjoys sports, I can really appreciate athletes and the challenges they face. In an attempt to understand more about the UFC, I interviewed my eldest brother who is most knowledgeable in this area. He explained some of the tactics, the use of jujitsu, muay thai, capoeira, judo, wrestling, spinning roundhouse kicks etc. 

I gathered that although teep and roundhouse kicks may not be moves that I am very familiar with, they do however have a small relevance to life with type one diabetes.

My brother emphasised to me just how skillful these men and women are in the octagon (the shape of the ring they fight in). Mastering the art of an effective punch takes practice and expertise. I do not throw punches on a daily basis but I do inject daily.

Injecting insulin, like a good punch, takes a lot of practice. The process must be repeated many many times in order to find the right spot, the right dose to nullify the effects of my opponent in my fight against high glucose as they throw tasty carbohydrates at me.

“Fighters are strong and motivated. They are very disciplined with their diets like you” my brother told me. Being disciplined when it comes to food does not make me a UFC fighter but perhaps more of a UGC fighter (Ultimate Glucose Championship). When we eat, we diabetics have to be disciplined because our insulin dose is dependent on our food choices or vice versa. Our blood sugar can be particularly sensitive to some snacks so avoiding them takes restraint. In my case, dried fruits are a no go.   

Dried fruits are my Jarizinho “Bigi Boy” Roszenstruik who just this minute was knocked out by Francis “The Predator” Ngannou.  Hope “Bigi Boy” will be OK.

Niko “The Hybrid” Price is currently my brother’s favourite fighter as he likes the name and he’s fearless.  I have just googled and found my favourite, Jordan Williams. He was diagnosed around the same age as I was with type one diabetes and is the 158^th top middleweight MMA fighter. 

“They are strong and motivated. They are all very disciplined”.  I hope my brother will say that about me one day.

Glucose upon publishing: 5.2mmol/L