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Getting UFC’s
Ocean Medical Center
Back in
the Ring
Brick resident Nick Catone
discovered his calling in life
at age 7, when he took up
wrestling. After competing through
high school and college, Nick, now
30, expanded his skills and became
accomplished in martial arts and
boxing. Today, he is an Ultimate
Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter,
nicknamed “The Jersey Devil,” with
an international following.
But that dedication came at a cost:
More than 20 years of training caused
wear and tear on Nick’s body. He
needed the help of Ocean Medical
Center to get back in fighting form.
Treatment Focused on
Performance
“A few years ago, I could tell that
my training was taking a toll on
my shoulder,” says Nick, who owns
Nick Catone’s Mixed Martial Arts
Academy in Brick and volunteers
with the wrestling program at his
former high school there. Needing
a sports medicine expert close to
home, he made an appointment
with Jason Nitche, M.D., an
orthopedic surgeon at Ocean who
focuses on sports medicine.
“When I first saw Nick in 2010,
he had chronic overuse injuries,
After several injuries, Ocean Medical Center helped get UFC fighter Nick Catone back in form. Nick owns a
training gym in Brick, where he teaches more than 300 students, including Ricky Badejas and Brian Decker.
including bone spurs, arthritis, and
tears in his shoulder,” explains
Dr. Nitche. “I treated Nick so that he
could get back to his sport.”
Dr. Nitche performed surgery to
remove the bone spur — a small
bony growth that formed on the
edge of Nick’s shoulder. He also
treated torn tissue in the joint at the
time of surgery.
Nick was once again in peak
condition until the following
September, when he ruptured his
Achilles tendon during training. The
painful injury required surgery, and
he wouldn’t have trusted anyone but
Dr. Nitche and Ocean’s experts to
perform it.
“I had no doubt that I would be
in good hands with Dr. Nitche,” Nick
recalls. “He understood what I did for
a living, and I knew he’d provide the
extra time and care to help me get
back to where I wanted to be.”
Back to Good Health
Jason A. Nitche, M.D.
Orthopedic Surgery
Brick • 732-840-7500
Fighting Back
Dr. Nitche successfully performed
the procedure and started Nick on
a focused and aggressive physical
rehabilitation program.
“With a specialty in sports medicine,
I treat athletes with a different
perspective than general orthopedic
surgeons,” says Dr. Nitche. “Not only
do we correct the problem, we do so
in a way that helps the athlete get back
to a high level of performance.”
Thanks to this care, Nick was back
to UFC fighting in 10 months.
“I’m still as explosive as I used to
be,” he says. •
You may not be a UFC fighter, but chances are, at some point you’ll be
faced with back pain. Learn what you can do to prevent this common
health problem at a free seminar on November 13. The details are on page 24.
Meridian HealthViews • November/December 2012
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