By Bryan Levick 
David Terrell was once a star on the rise. In his UFC debut he made quick work of perennial middleweight contender Matt Lindland, knocking him out in just 24 seconds.
The UFC rewarded the Cesar Gracie trained fighter with a shot at the vacant middleweight title against Evan Tanner.
Terrell locked in a tight guillotine, but Tanner persevered and broke free, and won the title via first round TKO.
Even with the loss the future for Terrell still looked bright, that is until a series of injuries stymied what looked to be a fantastic career.
Terrell has suffered through a variety of nagging injuries, including arm and elbow woes.
The last time Terrell fought was at UFC 59 where he defeated Scott Smith via rear naked choke in the first round.
April 15 will mark four years to the day that Terrell last saw any action, but by the looks of things, he may be on his way back.
Terrell was a guest of the MMA Junkie Radio Show this past Thursday. The 32 year-old Terrell told the show’s hosts that he had been suffering from ear infections.
Here is what Terrell had to say about the procedure he underwent to repair the problem:
“I trained really hard for my fights, but I was getting these sinus infections and a lot of ear problems,” said Terrell, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie who’s now the NorCal Fighting Alliance head trainer. “It finally got to the point that these infections weren’t going away, so I had to get a surgery on my ear where they kind of carved out the infection. It was just a pain in the butt. They stapled the ear back on after they pealed it off. They like filleted the back of the ear.”
Sounds pretty crazy, and if you listen to the whole show you will have a new appreciation for what the athletes go through to compete.
Not everyone has gone through what the “Soul Assassin” has gone through, in fact he is in a class all by himself.
In the mean time, Terrell has continued to train his students, but the competitive fire still burns inside.
He goes on to explain that if he is unable to compete again, he will leave so much unfinished business behind, and is worried that he would eat at him constantly.
If you have the time, go and listen to the show, it’s a great story, one that I hope has a happy ending.
