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As the UFC pushes Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to the mainstream, an age old question remains: Is MMA safer then boxing? The main premise behind the argument has always been that unlike boxing, in MMA, there are more avenues to success compared to hitting your opponent. Highlighting the apparent, you will find less painful routes to victory, therefore making some losses in MMA less damaging on a fighter’s body and brain. The Unified Rules of MMA make it feasible for an MMA fighter to win a bout by judges’ choice or by maybe submitting their opponent. The resulting idea is that MMA athletes suffer fewer traumatic injuries and the odds are lessened they may become punch drunk. But, proponents of boxing are always quick to point out the bigger gloves employed in MMA and the fact the rules allowing for leg strikes and elbows. Therefore”it is time” to take an in-depth appearance to either side of the argument. Prior to getting into the thick of the debate, I’d like to highlight one of the key reasons I decided to write this report. Shawn O’Sullivan, a retired boxer who I have met many occasions, resides in my hometown. On paper, his life seems like a success story. However the actual truth is his boxing career killed his odds of having a successful life after his career was finished. A brief documentary on his story are available below.Many would believe O’Sullivan’s career marginally illustrious as he was the 1981 World Amateur Champion, 1981 Canadian Athlete of the Year and 1984 Olympic Silver medalist at light middleweight. Also many believe his gold medal bout against Frank Tate very controversial as it appeared like the fix was in. Despite scoring two standing 8 counts in round two the judges given that round to Tate. Upon going pro, he found himself fast retired in 1988 with failed comebacks in both 1991 and 1997. Shawn’s overall listing of 23-5-0, with 16 knockouts handed him without accomplishing his dreams of competing in a world title bout. After four more fights in 1997, a neurologist refused to renew the license he needed to continue boxing because of brain injury that he saw during a CAT scan. Now, O’Sullivan is living with the issues of brain damage, but he does not repent his career in boxing. Throughout my many discussions with O’Sullivan, he practically always slurred his speech also had problems recalling parts of his life. Regrettably, his ability to share his story is all he has to show for his illustrious career. But, that is hindered as a result of the culmination of blows to the head he suffered during his boxing career. O’Sullivan suffers from fighter’s dementia, commonly called being”punch drunk” caused partly as a result of the fighting style and gruelling sparring sessions at the gym. If you want to find out what I mean, take a few minutes and see his bout against Armando Martinez. What remains untold to most, and something which highlights the relevance of the article is that O’Sullivan was pushed into boxing with his first trainer: his father. Rumors are his father was letting his son spar against heavyweights and even larger guys as part of the daily reality test for O’Sullivan. As parents, one may feel uncomfortable recommending that your child partake in any battle sport from the fear of their long-term consequences. Therefore signing up your child to boxing or MMA training could become a question of which is safer? Is there a possibility that you could help select the lesser of two so-called evils. Until recently the entire argument behind MMA is safer then Boxing was entirely theoretical. There continues to be little scientific facts and findings to support the claim. Most recently the University of Alberta’s Dr. Shelby Karpman headed a review of over a decade’s worth of medical exams from approximately 1,700 fighters in Edmonton, Canada. According to the study, Fifty-nine per cent of MMA athletes lasted some form of harm, compared to 50 percent of fighters. But, fighters were likely to eliminate consciousness in a bout: seven per cent versus four per cent for MMA fighters. Regardless of the facts to as which sport is safer, The Canadian Medical Association has called for a ban on both MMA and boxing. By highlighting a 2014 University of Toronto study revealed an MMA fighter suffered a traumatic brain injury at almost a third of professional bouts. It’s not my aim to cast doubt onto the safety of a game, however both boxing and MMA have experienced instances of fatalities which are well documented. Recently a MMA fighter died because of complications cutting weight. John McCain, who once labeled the sport of MMA”human cockfighting,” sat ringside in the 1995 boxing death of Jimmy Garcia. But, very few severe life threatening injuries in MMA come into mind because no one have happened on its main point. A fighter’s passing inside the Octagon has never occurred and it never will. Nonetheless, it’s something which has to be in the back of everyone’s mind when we see fighters getting knocked out lifelessly. Rendering an opponent not just defenceless but unconscious remains to be the title of the fight game whether it be MMA or Boxing. That is where a fighter’s fanfare, bonus cash and constant hype derives. UFC President Dana White announced MMA the”safest game in the world, fact.” The concept that MMA is the most popular sport in the entire world is mad. Tennis, golf, track and field, swimming… Are all”safer” sports in that they lack head trauma all together and pose little risk of death. Touting up safety should come with a responsibility to completely study the ramifications of your sport. The construction on what will be called the UFC Athlete Health and Performance Center starts this shortly and will take 15 weeks to complete. Next to medical insurance for training injuries, this is MMA’s second most significant step towards taking on more of a top role in sport safety. With that said, Dana’s end game is that Scientific research will eventually brand MMA as a”safer” choice for fight sport athletes when compared with boxing. But, it might just further the sport’s reverse relationship. Since MMA increases in popularity, boxing’s visibility at the national understanding continues to fall and it’s simple to finger point. Additionally, it can not be stressed enough the first generation of fighters are only getting out of this sport within the last few years. Science has a remarkably small sample dimension to look at in terms of aging MMA fighters at this time, though UFC originals like Gary Goodridge are already feeling the consequences. We probably still require a few more”generations” of fighters to retire and grow older to get a true sense of the effects of the game on them since they age. And by that I mean boxers that have had to compete with other high level athletes, not boxers who were the very best of a sport that was very much in the developmental phases. Fighters like George St Pierre, Demetrious Johnson and Ronda Rousey are not likely to face any longstanding consequences of brain injury primarily due to their runs of desire as well as their capacity to avoid significant harm. Johnson recently stated on the Joe Rogan Experience that”There is not enough money in the world for me to risk brain damage” Johnson, like many other educated fighters, knows that taking too much damage in his profession will harm his longevity both indoors and outside the sport, and that is why he is so conscious of his security in the Octagon. Perhaps that’s the main reason he’s never lost consciousness from the Octagon. Whatever the scenario, it is difficult to utilize findings of yesteryear to find out the safety of the game now. So much always changes inside the sport of MMA that trying to compare between eras is essentially the exact same in attempting to compare very different sports. Perhaps then a better approach isn’t to look at the sport’s past, and rather on its present and foreseeable future. The argument about which game is safer due to the glove size is moot. The amount of punishment a fighter takes over their livelihood is individualistic and highly dependent on a fighter’s style. The main selling point as to why MMA is more powerful than boxing is truly the glove dimensions. The boxing glove has been created to protect the hands, not the individual being punched. However MMA practitioners argue that they utilize the bare minimum in hand defense. Any debate surrounding the fact that a hand will crack until the mind is not the most attractive approach to advocate for a safer sport. The same goes for the standing eight count. Arguing that allowing a concussed fighter to continue at a fight after being pumped only furthers brain injury. In MMA we witness that a lot follow up punches following a fighter is rendered unconscious — maybe equally damaging to allowing a boxer to continue after receiving devastating blows. There are many factors in determining the devastation of a landed punch–out of technique to time, to whether or not the receiver saw the punch coming–that it would be almost impossible to determine in a live match which glove size would have caused the maximum harm. What’s more, there are quite a few different elements and rules that deciding on which game is safer. The normal duration of a Boxing game is normally longer then that of an MMA fight. There are so many factors that are individualistic to the fighter. I’d love to announce each sport equally as harmful, but until further research is completed, an individual can not create such a statement with much confidence. The inherent risks in both sports are intrinsically connected. The ability of a fighter to achieve longevity in the sport is more dependant on the skills of the fighter themselves their respective sports parameters alone. Generalizing that is safer without the scientific proof to support such a claim remains a matter of opinion.
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