In this episode, we interview Dr. Marc Burdorf and his patient, Olympic gold medalist, and two-time UFC champ Henry Cejudo. Learn how Erchonia lasers have been an integral part of Henry’s training and performance in and out of the octagon.
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Dr. Chad Woolner: What’s going on everybody, Dr. Chad Woolner here with my good friend Dr. Andrew Wells and this is episode 14 of the laser light show and on today’s episode we have with us special guests Dr. Marc Burdof and Henry Sahudu and so we’re really excited to really dig into this episode, talk about lasers and their applications with Henry and his career in UFC and beyond. So with that being said, let’s get to it.
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, I used to love going to laser light shows at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. They would put on these amazing light shows with incredible designs synced up to some of my favorite music. From the Beatles to Pink Floyd to Jimmy Hendrix and Metallica; they were awesome. Little did I know then that lasers would have such a profound effect on my life decades later. As a chiropractic physician, I have seen first-hand just how powerful laser therapy is in helping patients struggling with a wide range of health problems. As the leader in laser therapy, Erchonia has pioneered the field in obtaining 20 of the 23 total FDA clearances for therapeutic application of lasers. On this podcast, we’ll explore the science and technology and physiology behind what makes these tools so powerful. Join me as we explore low-level laser therapy. I’m Dr. Chad Woolner along with my good friend Dr. Andrew Wells and welcome to The Laser Light Show.
All right, we have with us Dr. Burdof and Henry Suhto, welcome to the show both of you! We’re super excited to have you guys here.
Dr. Burdorf & Henry Suhto: Thank you! Thank you for having us.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Yesh! Absolutely! So, if the name sounds familiar for any wrestling and MMA fans, you’ll know the name Henry Suhto. But, I just want to point out the fact that he, I believe, was the youngest American wrestler to win the gold medal and that was in 2006. Is that right?
Dr. Burdorf & Henry Suhto: 2008
Dr. Andrew Wells: Yeah, 2008, and then went on to a really great MMA career as well. So, I followed you when you were wrestling and loosely followed you in MMA and many people have said one of the greatest combat athletes of all time, so pretty impressive background. Today, obviously we’re gonna be talking about, with Dr. Burdorf, how laser therapy has helped you with your physical health and overall health and also performance in combat sports. I’d like to start off with stating the obvious that when you’re a wrestler and an MMA athlete, the amount of physical abuse that you put your body through. Whether it’s just from the rigorous training or from fighting it puts an amazing amount of pressure and a huge toll on your body. You’re still a young guy but what I wanted to start off with, and you’re in amazing shape obviously, but what is this career? What kind of impact has this career had on your physical body?
Henry Suhto: Well, it all goes back to, well I’ve been dealing with Dr. Marc for over the past decade. I think overall, years in the making, and just the difference of having somebody that understands a neurologist/chiropractor understand the game of lasers or even you know, explain these certain things that are, according to my eyes, things of that nature. Obviously the sport I do is rigorous in my brain, you know. I do want to say I don’t get hit enough now but I get hit. So, that being said, it’s like you got to use this technology and find the right engineers and right resources and I think that’s really giving me the longevity and success that I have. You know, it’s pinpointing all of that because, you know, the layers really make a huge difference. And I’m going to talk about how Dr. Barbara actually got the word problems lasers I had, I had sprained my ankle. When I was fighting, I went over to the upper division on that Monday night, I sprained my ankle fine for a second UFC title. And there’s this, I might even have to pull out you’re gonna have to pull out we have to find every type of resource to do so. Yeah, we really were a difference when we started getting lazier on the on my left ankle, I just thought that was like the biggest impact that really took me to a whole nother level. It’s just like, it’s crazy to think of a lesion that within days wasn’t 100% But I was so much better than I was right after I got injured. You know, so I think Little things like that. What we do with Dr. Marc it’s the proper adjustments when it was completed the time coming in with them in conjunction With a lady who has just spoken to senergy that I think people tend to miss some. They know the technology portion of what it actually brings and I can tell you I was tested in some of the lasers to be able to, you know, to win a second UFC bill.
Dr. Andrew Wells: That’s amazing. Dr. Marc, do you have advanced training in neurology we’re working with? Henry, are you working with him from just an injury standpoint? Are you also working with him from a neurologist to make sure that he’s performing at a high level or both of those?
Dr. Burdorf: Yeah, I mean, we do neuro rehab. I mean, I do less than chiropractors do a lot more neuro rehab. It was all about sidenote doing eye exercises and balanced exercises. And you know, myself also kind of like animal science projects or Guinea pigs because that fight when he beat Maria’s for the second title UFC, so he sprained his ankle and by the safety of God got a friend we got Dave, the whole line as a friend is pretty close second, and Dave got on the phone with me and he had your one of your handlers from fire open up by rate from neuro force one comb. And it’s one thing I came up with the protocol of lasering, frequent several times a day and we basically lasers Henry, he picked up the laser Tuesday night, and got to Chicago. And I came in on Friday and you know, took over but they were laser on him like every three, four hours around the clock. And that’s how I knew ahead of Linden Mason, physical therapist, she taped them and everything, but I had nightmares the last couple nights, there was a I saw Henry going into a kid and washed his left ankle buckle and boots. And when Henry came out, and he won, and his previous sight when he brought Dillashaw you know, he destroyed recruiting two seconds, I never heard from Henry. And Sunday morning after Maria spike calls me up, I am unable to speak at work. And I worked on him all day. And I had to go home at about six o’clock that night. He came on the following Wednesday and went to see you on Sunday. So women have a laser protocol for his concussion. And so we put them back together. And it’s been, it’s been a fun run. Looks like it’s going to start all over again.
Henry Suhto: Before coming to Dr. Marc, especially like that, and that’s the edge. This is what Dr. Marc has, here’s the edge of being able to combine those two components. The neurology with the chiropractic work, they’re typically I don’t think you can just have one without the other. At least I don’t know, I’m a big proponent, Dr. More trauma, you know, I understand what the quality is. You know, it’s the longevity way isn’t because like I said, I’m a good speaker, I can speak just for that same reason that I’ve been able to take care of the neurology portion up here. So this is where you get credit.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, I would imagine that this is a really challenging area to navigate for a lot of high level athletes in that you go down the supplement route. And that can create all sorts of problems unintentionally, because of all the various banned substances and things like that, that that performers may not even know about, and are aware of, and so finding how to be able to recover faster, and optimize your performance without running into any of those potential problems. I mean, I know that like the TJ Dillashaw fight, for example, after the fight, correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember hearing something about he had gotten tested and found that he had had some performance enhancing substances in his system. And so I would imagine that this is a really powerful way for you to kind of navigate those waters safely, right. So you can really make sure that you’re optimizing your performance without having to worry about any of those potential concerns that could come up in those other areas, correct.
Henry Suhto: No, 100% I think a lot of people have a lot of fires in particular. They don’t focus enough on recovery. Recovery, like the labor issues, aren’t practical. That’s the real recovery. It’s not about just working hard like you can, you have to maintain that Ferrari according to No, you can’t just throw 100,000 miles and not change the oil. Absolutely. You have to be able to have the ability and just have the right or the right to take it to take it to that extent. You know, just like the concussion portion I you know, like my and that’s part of my IQ. Yeah, you know, with the Doc show, there’s been federal funding that talks like you got to come in. So you know, coming in and doing that but not just speed but a lot of my my mentor days online, a lot of fighters that caught on to this, this whole therapy, laser thing earpiece stuff that makes a huge difference. I remember how to bump foot, I think it was with one of my clients, and I was able to just pinpoint it, there were relationships within three sessions. But coming back to where I was in like limping or anything like that, because you can see that there you can see the progress, like immediately, you know, which is not, you know, it should seem surreal at times, you don’t I mean, that’s why I like my big bank or five, being able to be able to at least move they have the ability to move around, where it was cool. It was expensive. So, you know, we all have a lot to do, you know, with the process of technology.
Dr. Andrew Wells: That’s amazing. I imagine with the recovery work that you do, does this allow you to, to work out harder when you’re fully recovered and prepare better for fights?
Henry Suhto: Oh, 100%. So, but sometimes in the fight camp, I was, I’ve seen Dr. America at least, maybe a couple, two or three times a week, depending on, you know, on the fighter, the fighter, how am I fine, we’re still in. And, of course, of course, if I can, but there’s all sorts of processes that are in place, because I don’t always want to spike because that can also lead to injury. So there’s, there’s a way where it is that you should keep, we’re not just spiking now, there’s only about two spikes per week that we always tend to do. Or after we spar, we do that and that’s when we should be hit with releases. Because that’s just one example. We probably took a little bit of blows that could affect us throughout the week. So it’s always important to Hey, now I gotta go here. This is the first thing I should do after I get them spar because if a motorcycle you get into these, you can get into these mini car wrecks that, you know, I mean, it happened like twice a week or at least once a week. We’re just like, if you don’t, if you don’t, you know you’re you can be salvaged. You know what I mean? Like the opposite about cars, you can beat a cipher to that point. Well, there’s a way to piping. I think it’s also important that you have to like the right. I call them engineers, your trainers, your training partners, making sure that everybody’s using the exact same simulation look, with the opponents you’re gonna find and making sure you’re speaking. So it’s also adding a physiologist, you know, somebody that can really also pinpoint your schedule. Wow. And you’re adding the infrared saunas in there. And the therapeutic type shape conditioning. You know, we’re not so much focused on power. And I just feel like that’s what a lot of people are, are missing it but don’t have the edge. And this is why we have a great team. That’s why we’re able to bring world championships to, you know, to Gnosis to Scottsdale, Arizona.
Dr. Andrew Wells: That’s amazing and you know, Henry, you brought up a really good point, I want to go back to this. You talked about long term brain health, and I can’t help but think about Muhammad Ali, who took so many shots to the head as a boxer and other people who are in combat sports or people who are professional football players, college football players, high school wrestlers, high school football player that do so much damage just from these repetitive car accidents right to the head. What are you looking for? Do you have a game plan? Or are you kind of looking forward to what your health looks like 10-20- 30 years from now so that you can now maintain your health and enjoy your life that you’ve worked so hard for, like what does that long term maintenance look like for you?
Henry Suhto: I feel good this is the same reason why I’m coming back I thought he’d be happy for your feedback and that means a lot to me because we’ve done a lot and but at the same time it’s like I’m so healthy and I am in my prime I think there’s a way that we can do this again and you know I’m able to you know have a have a family perspective. The moment is a little different now but now it’s my wireless shot. Shot cuz she dropped
Dr. Burdorf: It’s like LEGO Star Wars, Muhammad Ali never had the opportunity. And the cool thing is, when Henry gets injured, I see him right away afterwards. So rather than the people and there’s a lot of people my age that took some shots in their 20s and now they’re brain dead and then 50s And so that’s the cool thing is sooner you can address something afternoon injury, recovery chance goes way up. Like I said, we’re trying to maintain a very long life after he cites it finally ending it up.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Yeah, this was a great point mark. And this was one of the reasons we were really excited to have Henry on the podcast because I think it’s so important for either doctors, chiropractors or kids listening to this program that If you’re in a sport like like Henry’s performed at a high level and or at any level, you definitely have to think you know, about brain health and nerve health long term so that we don’t end up in degenerative nerve conditions are on the rise, it’s getting worse, it’s not getting better. And here we have such a simple technology like laser therapy that can have a huge impact on the quality of somebody’s life long term. That’s easy to do that can be in the hands of almost anybody. It shouldn’t be in the hands of anybody doing any kind of physical sport, what Henry’s involved in. And so I think there’s a good opportunity for you to be an advocate for brain health in the future.
Dr. Chad Woolner: Yeah, absolutely. And I was gonna say, it sounds like that’s what’s happening, Henry, it sounds like a lot of the other fighters are picking up on this technology as well. Do you see that evolving over the next 510 years where this becomes kind of more mainstream and or standard for training camps?
Henry Suhto: 100% and I think we’re just I think we’re a little bit ahead of our time. You know, in that we’re at the end of the recovery, like even my ship condition is in what’s called neuro force format, where it’s, it’s pinpointed to, you know, to science. Yeah. And with the lasers that Dr. Marks has here, constantly, you know, I mean, lasers just everywhere, especially if you’re in the brain, it saw, Oh, man, it’s an edge band that I can only send it I’m just blessed to have the people around me that whole other people could follow because it’s because now we do have life after sports. We do have to have to be able to do interviews, be able to convey the message, according to you guys.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Yeah. It’s clear that you’re thinking way further ahead than probably many, if not, most aren’t. So, that’s amazing to hear that you’ve got the kind of people that are playing checkers and we’re just, we’re playing 3D chess.
Dr. Chad Woolner: So Henry, we know that you have a crazy busy schedule. Today is no exception to that. So we really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to be here with us. Any final thoughts number one, and or number two, anything coming up that you want to share with anybody on the podcast in terms of exciting things going on with you?
Henry Suhto: No, of course, final thoughts are making a comeback. To come back. Oh my gosh, she’s fighting for a third copy to become the first 3d rendered champion in history. That’s my goal. And you got to find the right team, find the right team. Know how to structure your training camp. And, you know, take it as far as your competition, the competition between you and yourself. You know, take care of yourself and have the right engineers and use Find the edge and everything that’s whether it’s lasers, whether it’s just ice baths, things of that nature, understand the understand how to peak with whatever it is that you’re whatever it is that you’re doing any you can just go full time. So my biggest thing is what I take from one of the successes that I’ve done is having the right team yes to be out there fighting in the cage. But you know, without Dr. Umar Pathak things alone, without my trading partner without my coaches, like, a lot of stuff, I wouldn’t be possible.
Dr. Chad Woolner: That’s amazing, wonderful words of wisdom. I was gonna say, you know, I’ve trained in Brazilian jujitsu. And the one thing you’ll learn about me as I am, the mediocre is jujitsu practitioner you’ll ever meet in your life. That’s my claim to fame. But the thing I was going to say in harmony with what you’re saying is my instructor, that was his big, really, his big soapbox was making sure that when you train jiu jitsu, you train for life. And so making sure emphasis is on proper technique, proper training, you’re not exactly like you said, Go Go going full bore all the time. That’s just not a sustainable approach. And so making sure that you approach it strategically. And I love that analogy, use of playing chess when others are playing checkers, thinking down the road, and really investing in your health and especially in brain health. That’s such a huge, and I would say to that that emphasis on being a thinking fighter is got to be huge for you really being an analytical fighter in terms that makes all the difference in the world for your performance. So absolutely incredible. We’re rooting for you. We’re super excited as you as you’ve engaged, they’re in the ring. We’re super excited about that. Anything you want to end with Dr. Wells.
Dr. Andrew Wells: Just want to reiterate, yeah, thanks, Henry for your time, and thanks for bringing your experience to the lives of other doctors and Dr. Mark. You’re amazing. Thanks for facilitating this and helping promote this technology not just for athletes and fighters, but for everybody who needs this type of therapy. So thank you guys so much. We really appreciate it.
Dr. Burdorf & Henry Suhto: Yeah, thank you guys,
Dr. Chad Woolner: Thanks, everybody. Alright, that’s it. Doc’s. Thanks for being here. We appreciate it. Hope you guys found this valuable. Super excited to hear about Dr. Mark and what he’s doing to really revolutionize things in the MMA world and for high performance athletes. We appreciate Henry being here with us and we’ll talk to you guys later.
[OUTRO]
Thanks for listening to the laser light show, be sure to subscribe and give us a review. If you’re interested in learning more about our Konya lasers, just head on over to Erchonia.com. There you’ll find a ton of useful resources including research news and links to upcoming live events, as well as the Erchonia community where you can access for free additional resources including advanced training and business tools. Again, thanks for listening and we will catch you on the next episode.
