Mark Allen, Discusses his Boxing and MMA Career, and Overcoming his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Enter the Lionheart
Lawrence Dunning
4.9 • 67 Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2021
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lawrence is joined by his former training partner and teammate, Mark Allen. We reminisce about some of our favorite memories from our decade plus in the combat sports world, and how he is dealing with his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) which he examines in depth, in his fantastic (hilarious, but also gritty, and powerful) new book: "Based on a True, Traumatic, Brain History: A Short Memoir". Mark is truly "uncommon, amongst uncommon men" and just as I was inspired by his tenacity and fighting spirit when we were gym buddies and gym competitors, I am today inspired by his always positive and pragmatic approach to his "new normal", and his constant intellectual curiosity. He never allows any self-pity and maintains a growth mindset, along with his strict athlete lifestyle of fasting, constant growth, and commitment to get the most out of this life, regardless of his adversities. It is in hope that Mark's book and wisdom will encourage the new generation of fighters to train smarter, and not just harder. Through it all, neither of us would change those years and the honor of being Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena".
His new book is available on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Based-True-Traumatic-Brain-History/dp/1796097322
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the End of the Lion Heart Podcast with your host, Lauren Stunning. |
| 0:16.5 | Today I'm really excited to catch up with my dear friend Mark Allen. |
| 0:20.6 | I have no chance to talk to Mark for a while since pre-pandemic, but I've just finished |
| 0:24.8 | reading his latest book, which is titled, based on a true traumatic brain history, a short |
| 0:30.9 | memoir, and I was really emotionally affected. |
| 0:34.7 | Hearing his cognitive troubles from his years of fighting, when I've known it has mired |
| 0:38.3 | him for the last 15 years, was really tough. |
| 0:41.2 | Our amateur boxing and professional in-make careers overlaps so closely, and over the years, |
| 0:46.4 | when we were fighting, we must have shared several hundred rounds of hard boxing sparring |
| 0:50.6 | in the gym. |
| 0:51.9 | We both won the Chicago Golden Gloves together in 2006, him and Middleweight, and me at |
| 0:56.8 | light heavyweight, and it really hit close to home. |
| 1:00.4 | Reading his book made me understand a lot more about Mark as a man, and about how he's |
| 1:04.2 | handling the adversity of his traumatic brain injury. |
| 1:07.2 | He never allows himself to fall into self-pity, and he always keeps his growth mindset and |
| 1:11.6 | curious, intellectual personality. |
| 1:14.5 | I'm really excited to talk about the book, see how he's doing, and just catch up with |
| 1:18.7 | a friend. |
| 1:20.0 | Mark is a wonderful human and uncommon, amongst uncommon men in the words of David Goggins, |
| 1:25.5 | and I hope you enjoy our conversation. |
| 1:28.4 | Mark, my brother, we are here, and let's jump right into it. |
| 1:31.9 | I've known you a long time, it's been about 50 years, and one of my favorite things about |
... |
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