According to a recent interview, Smith claimed his ankle had fully recovered and that he had been crutch-free for two weeks. However, he has additional health problems.
“I don’t even know if I’ve mentioned it too much but the night before I went to Paris [UFC Paris], I had a weird allergic reaction to some meds. It was pretty hairy there for a little while,” Smith revealed.
“It was a really bad anaphylactic reaction. I was losing my airway, I couldn’t swallow. I was having a tough time breathing. Kind of barely got to the hospital in time before things got too rough. Then after I got back from Paris, they found a blood clot in my leg. So I’ve been battling this blood clot for a while. “
“It’s a pretty big deal and I didn’t really know that. You don’t really think about those kinds of issues when you’re my age when you’re healthy and active.
“Now I’m extremely versed in blood clots. You definitely don’t want one of those kicking off into your lungs or your brain or your heart. Blood clots don’t just go away overnight. It’s a long ordeal, typically. Your body has to absorb it, that takes time and the blood thinners, you can’t really do anything on blood thinners.
“You can’t take any shots to the head out of fear of brain bleeds. I can’t even get massages because they don’t want to dislodge it and send that son of a bitch straight to my lungs or something. That would be a problem. You just never know what can happen. So that sucks. “
Due to the blood clot incident, Smith is uncertain about his return in January. That’s been a very irritating problem to have to deal with.
“It’s like I’m just getting f–d around every corner. I try to look at it as positively as possible. Maybe it’s just my turn. I’ve been super fortunate. I’ve grinded really hard and put a lot of work in and was super active for a lot of years. Maybe it’s just my turn to struggle a little bit.
“Chris Weidman has always dealt with that his whole entire career. He’s kind of been injury ridden and struggled staying healthy and getting through camps healthy. I just bring him up because we’re such good friends, so I know the intricacies of his career and his path.
“It could be worse. I could be battling through some of the things he’s battling through. Trying to keep a positive mindset about it. It’s tough when you’re in it. “
