11/18/2025
Last night, I stood inches from the cage at UFC 322 — Madison Square Garden shaking — as a ringside physician assigned by the New York State Athletic Commission.
You don’t watch the fight from there.
You feel it.
Every breath. Every thud. Every heartbeat in the silence between rounds.
My job?
Protect the warrior.
Not just the body — the mind.
Pupils. Balance. Cognition. Reflexes.
All while the crowd roars and the lights blind.
’s words echo in my head every single time:
“There’s a confidence and a mental toughness that comes from the very highest level of competition.”
He’s not wrong.
I see it live — in the eyes of a fighter who just ate a knee but still nods: “I’m good, Doc.”
That’s not adrenaline.
That’s soul forged in fire.
Between rounds, post-fight, and inside the tunnel—my role is to catch things most people never see.
It’s assessing cognition after big shots, evaluating balance, pupils, vision, hands, joints, cuts, reflexes… sometimes in the middle of pure chaos.
But the part most people don’t realize is this:
Behind every fighter is a human.
A father, a mother, a son, or daughter and a dreamer.
Some walk back with victory glowing off them.
Some walk back devastated, questioning everything.
And I’m there for all of it—checking on their safety, giving them the reassurance they deserve, and treating them with the dignity they’ve earned through years of sacrifice.
Every athlete I saw tonight showed heart you can’t teach.
Resilience you can’t fake.
Respect for the sport that reminds me why I love doing what I do.
Grateful to every athlete / patient who reminds me why I became a doctor.
Medicine + combat isn’t a job.
It’s a calling.
Another night in the books.
Another soul changed.
On to the next. 🥊🩺🔥
—Dr. Jacob Katz
Ringside Physician | Primary Care + Sports Medicine
Concierge Physician
Katz Medical Group | Marlboro, NJ
Views are my own. Not affiliated with UFC. JoeRogan
