Healthy and Holistic Healing in the UFC

Per Eklund, (born November 12, 1980 in Stockholm, Sweden) has been a natural athlete since his youth. At age 27 he became the first Swedish fighter to compete in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC 80, January 2008); also formerly competing for M-1 global (mixed martial arts). Eklund confessed to CULTURE that curiosity led him to initially try cannabis with a friend at age 21, while training in Brazil. Though that experience encouraged him to be more open to the concept of cannabis having medicinal benefits, it was a physical trauma which gave him a whole new perspective on cannabis’s medicinal value as he suffered from a broken neck in 2012.

We were sorry to hear about your injury. When you broke your neck, was that a work related injury? What exactly happened?
Per Eklund: Eh . . . I had problems with my neck for a long time and (doctors) asked me to do a surgery in 2011, but I didn’t want to do the surgery so [instead] I did rehab. But then, I had an accident in training where I landed on my head and I broke my vertebrae.
I’m really lucky that I’m still able to do what I’m doing; that everything went fine, you know? People break their neck and end up in a wheel chair, so I’m really happy. I actually enjoy life now more than I did before. I appreciate the small stuff.

“I’ve felt much greater value in using cannabis. I’ve stuck with cannabis, and I’ve been stretching and doing yoga for more than one and a half years, and I’ve had great results; great results.”

What was your alternative to medicating with cannabis while recovering?
First surgery I had, I was put on a lot of morphine. After that first one, I decided I was never gonna ever touch morphine or prescription drugs again. I was on morphine about four months. First week I had it injected into my vein at the hospital, then when I came home I had three to four different prescriptions. It was really horrible.

What did that medicated state feel like to you? What were your side effects?
That’s the funny thing . . . there’s nothing called side effects. The pharmaceutical industry, they say pills have side effects. No. It’s just effects. It’s just bad effects.
I felt like a ghost. I felt totally hollow as a person. Mood changes. Nothing I had ever experienced before. The months of [taking] medication, when I got angry I was almost filled with rage. It was really unpleasant. I had never had those issues before. When you take pills they make you sleepy, they don’t make you motivated, they take your creativity away. And what more do you need than your creativity when you are injured or sick, or            recovering?
So I made a decision. I’m not gonna use any of the medicines doctors give me because they don’t help me; they just keep me in a sick state. I’ve felt much greater value in using cannabis. I’ve stuck with cannabis, and I’ve been stretching and doing yoga for more than one and a half years, and I’ve had great results; great results.

How has cannabis has helped you in your training?
The great [physical] value [cannabis has] to me, is the muscle relaxing effect. I did two surgeries [for my neck], afterward I got so stiff in my back; it was like they glued my muscles to my back. It was really horrible; worst feeling I ever had.
[While training], sometimes I can be thinking too much; I’m planning everything—I forget about my body, and when I smoke [cannabis] I get more relaxed thinking. I consume cannabis because I get a really good stretch and workout with my body straight away. It’s amazing how it can help me that much [mentally].

What is your typical consumption method?
I smoke it in a pipe. Just pure cannabis. That’s how I consume it. I know you can eat it too, but I find it easier to just smoke.

If varying forms of cannabis were more accessible to you as a professional athlete, would you be more inclined to learn about tinctures, topicals and edibles and the reasons for consuming in ways other than smoking?
Yeah, yeah. Of course, of course. That’d be great! I know there are many different ways [to consume] and, I’m sure there are way better ways than smoking.

The world’s first cannabis friendly gym Power Plant Fitness is coming to San Francisco by the end of the year. What do you think of this idea? Do you think you would be inclined to check it out?
You can consume cannabis and train? Man . . . People with depression, people that are medicated today with all these painkillers, they should go to this gym and consume cannabis together with an experienced user; someone that tells them what kind of strain and what effect it has.
When you train your body produces something called endorphins, and endorphins are very powerful painkillers. For me, when I injured my neck, I started training two days after my second surgery without using any painkillers. So training was a great relief of pain because I trained hard enough that I produced good levels of endorphins. But . . . if I would have come off my second surgery and would have been able to go to a gym like this, in Stockholm? That would be the best thing that could happen to me. I think that this concept with gyms and consuming cannabis is going to be very popular.

Thank you for taking time to speak with us about all these issues.
Of course! I’m not ashamed. I would be ashamed if I didn’t say anything, you know? If I sat in the dark. Then I would be ashamed of myself when I get old.