MMA brain injury risk higher than boxing

[Barcham]

This is junk science. Fights ending in knockout doesn't mean they contribute more permanent brain damage than a guy who got the piss beat out of him for 12 rounds but survived to a decision.

When a fighter is knocked out, he has a concussion. 100% of the time. That is the ONLY time the occurrence of a concussion is certain. A fighter can get the snot beat out of him for 12 rounds and have no signs of a concussion at all.

Concussions are a definite sign of brain injury. The only other method to determine any brain damage from a fight would be to mandate that every fighter undergo an MRI after EVERY FIGHT at the very least. Every fighter should also be required to provide a clean MRI to be eligible to fight BEFORE every fight as they can also be injured in training.

[1bad65]

they don't even wear shoes in pro MMA fights, at least not in the leagues with which i'm familiar, and the canvas / mat isn't very tacky.

You are correct. Shoes are no longer allowed.

pride had a canvas, square ring, some guys with shoes, and was definitely a striker's organization. also had kicking to the head of a grounded opponent.

Kicking to the head of a downed opponent isn't allowed anymore either. Punching or elbows aren't allowed either, unless the person striking is also on the ground. You cannot strike a downed opponent from a standing position.

Pride was pretty wild. Pancrase was more of a grappler's organization, as they did not allow closed fist strikes to the head.

[SouthPawHitman]

ALBANY, N.Y.

That's all you need to know about this report.

MMA is the much safer of the two sports. MMA has 4 oz gloves whereas boxing has heavier gloves resulting in more damage. In boxing you are constantly punching and the fights are longer.

MMA is the safer more popular sport. It has the better athletes and the better fighters too. Boxing is my love and favorite sport but the numbers don't lie.

[New England]

You are correct. Shoes are no longer allowed.



Kicking to the head of a downed opponent isn't allowed anymore either. Punching or elbows aren't allowed either, unless the person striking is also on the ground. You cannot strike a downed opponent from a standing position.

Pride was pretty wild. Pancrase was more of a grappler's organization, as they did not allow closed fist strikes to the head.

pride was extremely exciting. rules in the UFC blatantly favor american styles / wrestling.

[Left2theliver]

Since we're on the subject of brain trauma, does anyone know of any reliable studies out there comparing head trauma and brain damage in football in comparison to combat sports like Boxing and MMA? I've seen a few articles while googling, but I'm not sure what's reliable and what's BS.

This is interesting though. As a long time fan of both sports, I've always had the idea that MMA was the safer of the two (in the long term), simply because of the shorter fight period and variation of techniques allowed. With that said, I can't say that this is surprising, to be exact. I'm just not sure if it's something to be taken with a grain of salt or not.