Home

UFC

“I Was Dependent Upon Painkillers” – Shaquille O’Neal, 50, & Dana White Were Haunted by Deadly Disease That Had Them Worrying for Their Lives

Published 11/29/2022, 11:50 AM EST

Follow Us

via Imago

UFC lynchpin Dana White is almost identical to the promotion. Looking beyond the 53-year-old’s promotion role, one might find that he had a troubled health history. Significantly, the head honcho recently opened up about his troubles with sleep apnea. Notably, another legend from the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal, suffered from the same disease that almost ended his life.

Shaq, in interaction with GQ’s Joe Holder, revealed his startling experience with sleep apnea. Strikingly, the 4-time NBA champion stated he had not visited the doctors for a long duration since he retired.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Doctors’ death warning to Shaquille O’Neal

Recalling his first in many years visit to the doctor, the 3-times NBA finals MVP mentioned that the doctor gave him certain words. Further, he while imitating the doctor, added, “‘Hey man, you got sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can cause hypertension or strokes, you could die’.”

via Getty

Afterward, ‘The Big Aristotle’ pointed out that he had to resort to sleeping machines. Shaq, while alluding to the doctor’s advice of not taking painkillers, confessed, “I was dependent upon painkillers—not addicted.” 

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest UFC stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

However, the 50-year-old athlete also assured the fans that he was off the painkillers since then.

Lastly, in the conversation, he also expressed his concerns that the situation changed when doctors hit him with a probable death warning.

Similarly, White appeared on an episode of the ‘Action Junkeez Podcast’ and talked about his life-altering experience with Grey Brecka. In addition, he also discussed how he coped with his recently diagnosed sleep apnea.

Dana White and his troubles with sleep apnea

White, who was also once diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, a neurological disorder, revealed that he had sleep apnea and snoring. Further, he stated he approached the doctors for 10 years and asked them about what was wrong with his legs.

via Getty

Later on, the American businessman revealed that doctors couldn’t tell him the reason. While he told the doctors that he had problems with sleep apnea and snoring, and added, “They sent me to one of those sleep studies where you go sleep for four f**ing hours. And then they give you a f*ing C-Pap machine that a 400 lb f**ing guy uses.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Watch this story: Dana White once revealed his thoughts about Tom Brady

Subsequently, White admitted he slept with these case studies for 20 minutes and would rip and throw those on the floor. Following this, he disclosed how Brecka’s 10-week 10x health system plan changed his life and restored his health.

Remarkably, he mentioned that as a result; he didn’t snore anymore and everything was gone within a span of 10 weeks.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

What do you think of this Dana White and Shaq’s encounter with Sleep apnea? Let us know in the comments below.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Rohit Lohan

1,237Articles

One take at a time

Rohit Lohan is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. After completing his undergraduate as a History major, he is currently pursuing LLB. Rohit is a big MMA fan and has been following UFC since 2017.
Show More>

Edited by:

Vineet Nandwana