Authored by Vince Murdock, moyamoya survivor. Last updated: 25 May 2026. See our editorial policy for how we source and review content.
Every article on this site about moyamoya disease is filtered through someone who has been through it.
I am the first professional athlete to undergo moyamoya brain bypass surgery. In September 2019, a pre-fight medical screen for my UFC debut against Jordan Griffin caught the disease that had been quietly closing the arteries on the left side of my brain. My left carotid was 100% blocked. A small stroke had already happened during a pickup basketball game months earlier. I was 30 years old and had no idea.
On 13 November 2019, Dr. Gary Steinberg performed an eight-hour cerebral artery bypass at Stanford. Eleven months and 10,000 cycling miles later, on 4 November 2020, I walked out under the lights on Dana White's Contender Series and fought Luis Saldana on national television. I have been sober since the day of my surgery.
That arc is why I built Miles for Moyamoya. Patients searching for information about this disease deserve to read words written by someone who has actually lived the diagnosis, the surgery, and the recovery, not just summaries of published papers.
A 12-6-0 professional record built across the most demanding stages in mixed martial arts.
Nine of my twelve professional wins came by knockout or technical knockout. The full record is verifiable via Tapology and Sherdog.
Trained in Sacramento under UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber, alongside Cody Garbrandt and a roster of elite-level fighters. The gym shaped the discipline that later carried me through bypass recovery.
Competed on one of the largest MMA promotions in the world before moving toward the UFC pipeline.
Fought Luis Saldana on DWCS on 4 November 2020, less than one year after brain bypass surgery.
Cast on TUF 29 in 2021. Knocked out Dustin Lampros in the first round of the elimination fight before falling in the semifinals.
8 HOURS
ONE BYPASS
STANFORD
Dr. Gary Steinberg, the world's leading moyamoya neurosurgeon, performed the craniotomy and cerebral artery bypass on 13 November 2019. I was the first professional athlete he had operated on for moyamoya.
Read the full story →The bike was the rehab. The rehab became a second sport.
I started rehab on a bike because running was out of the question. Eight months later I had ridden more than ten thousand miles. The bypass vessels Dr. Steinberg connected to my brain had quadrupled in size by the time we did the follow-up imaging.
I race for Ventum Racing on the gravel and endurance side. The partnership turned the bike from a recovery tool into a competitive platform that funds moyamoya awareness.
In 2024 I finished Unbound XL in Kansas, 350 miles of gravel in a single push. It is the longest day I have ever put into a bike, and it raised more for moyamoya research than any single ride I have done.
I founded the Enjoy Cycling Club in Sacramento to build a community that welcomes riders who do not look like the cover of a cycling magazine. Inclusivity on the bike, every Saturday.
Coverage of the diagnosis, the surgery, and the comeback.
Verified accounts and public fight records.
Support Miles for Moyamoya by funding research, sharing the story, or joining a ride. The disease is rare. The patients are not alone.