Credeur interview: TUF 7 vet returns from major brain scare with new perspective

You think you're having a bad day? Imagine Tim Credeur's position as he left a doctor's office in April of 2010 after being told he had an unknown mass in his brain that could be potentially fatal. Then Credeur called his wife and was greeted by the unbelievably great news that the couple was pregnant with their first child. That's a rough spot.

The 33-year-old's health and longevity were in question. It appeared certain that his fighting career was over as well, but he was supposed to snap right into celebratory mode.

"My brain scan came back and they didn't know if it was a brain tumor, if it was the beginning of an aneurysm and it was inoperable," Credeur told us in the RawVegas video. "My wife calls me to tell me she's pregnant with our first baby. That's a tough 10 minutes for anybody to go through. I kind of shelved my problems and I was excited for her, and I didn't tell her anything for a week."

Credeur eventually told his wife and went through nine months of consistent brain scans and check ups to find out that the anomaly in his brain was similar to a birthmark. He's at no risk and it's safe to continue fighting. After 21 months away from active fighting, he's thrilled to be back.

"Feeling like I'm not going to be able to participate in the sport I love and appreciate, and that it was going to get taken away from me for some weird medical scare was kind of tough to swallow," Credeur said. "So having the opportunity to come back and fight and do what I love to do is a huge opportunity."

Credeur's outlook on life, family and friends has changed.

"Having something like that happen to you, you know you re-evaluate a whole bunch of things in life. You realize that some of the most important things in your life are your relationships, who you are and how people view you. That's stuff important," Credeur said. "The integrity of a man defines who he really is. So I'm worried about that."

Credeur is part of "comeback night" in his fight against fellow veteran Ed Herman. Herman, one of the only fighters left in the UFC from Season 3 of TUF, deal with two knee surgeries during his 19 months away.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Credeur-interview-TUF-7-vet-returns-from-major-?urn=mma-wp2931

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