Former UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante had experienced similar dizziness before, but says he is still doesn't know exactly why it happened this past Saturday leading to his loss against Jesse Taylor at Impact FC 2 in Sydney, Australia.
Bustamante, who was coming out of retirement, was visibly disoriented after a referee standup and referee "Big" John McCarthy promptly called an end to the fight at 2:10 of the second round.
"When I was playing guard during the second round, I started to get dizzy after a while, and when 'Big' John put us back on our feet I felt like I was badly drunk, I was dizzy and everything was spinning," Bustamante told MMAFighting.com on Thursday. "I didn't know at the time what happened as I didn't get hit that hard during the fight."
After the fight the 43-year-old Brazilian said he felt fine and it wasn't until he laid down on his bed in his hotel room when he felt the dizziness again. He says one possibility is an old neck injury, but won't know until he returns home next week to Brazil next week and visits a doctor.
"I realized that it came from my neck because I had it a couple times before, long time ago (in 1997 and 2003) when I got punched behind my neck during sparrings of MMA," he said.
In his previous experiences, Bustamante was prescribed a medicine to increase blood circulation and was ordered to use a hot water bag to relax his neck muscles. According to his doctor in the past, because of the impact to his neck, caused his neck muscles to tighten, affecting the circulation of blood to his eardrum.
But even with that considered, Bustamante said there was little to no impact on his neck.
"I know I have the symptoms I had before, but watching the video of the fight, I couldn't see any punch or hit strong enough that reached my neck," he said.
Bustamante will remain in Australia for the rest of the week for seminars. As of Thursday, Bustamante was still experiencing the dizziness.
"Even today when I was teaching a seminar for many times I got dizzy when I was just showing some techniques of BJJ on the ground."
Bustamante last fought on New Year's Eve 2007 in Japan. Despite this recent setback, he says he will continue to compete.
"I will continue to fight for sure," he said. "I am sure I did a good job until I get the problem that made me unable to keep fighting. I got really disappointed to don't be able to finish the fight. But I am sure it was the best at the time."
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