SAFETY: Boxing vs MMA

[omega_image]

So Anjew and I were having a heated debate over which sport was safer.

Anjew was in firm belief that boxing was the safer sport, I was for MMA (UFC to be specific).

His argument was defended by: unprotected kicks to the head, extended choke holds, and UFC being more violent.

I responded that MMA/UFC had so many rules in place for a fighters safety that any life threatening circumstances had pretty much been accounted for and rules set in place.

I also argued that MMA/UFC was safer due to the fact that in boxing, a boxer can be KO'd, standup, and still continue to fight (probably with a concussion), where as in the UFC the fight is ended immediately.

Thoughts?

[LaMzWeLL]

only one way to settle this. UFC Match then Boxing Match. Mark vs Tsang !!!! First one with a concussion loses!!!

[EPID3MIK-7]

IMO MMA is safer.

Yeah, MMA may seem more violent due to kicks, chokes and submissions, but once the ref sees that a fighter is unable to defend himself - that's it. Ref jumps in and the fight is over.

Also (IMO) there seems to be a lot more repeated Head trauma in boxing. Yeah the headshots in MMA are more viscous, but again, once the fighter is KO'd or unable to defend from ONE solid kick/punch or a set of ground n pound hits, the fight is over.

[dj_soo]

in boxing, if you get rocked, knocked down, whatever - you get 10 seconds to recover and then get punched in the head a whole bunch more times.

In MMA, if you get rocked and you can't recover/protect yourself from the followthrough - fight gets stopped immediately.

Also, in the entire history of MMA, there has been one death as a result of in-ring injuries in a sanctioned bout (lets say since 2000ish when MMA became a sanctioned sport in America back when SEG was still running UFC). Including non-sanctioned bouts, there have been a total of 3 deaths.

In pro boxing there has been probably around 20 or so deaths since 2000 resulting from in-ring injuries. (source: Journal of Combative Sport: Boxing Fatalities, Svinth ) The number grows considerably when taking into account non-sanctioned, amateur, and bare-knuckles fights.

A study at John Hopkins has also concluded that while general injuries are about equal in the sports, knockout rates are far lower in MMA which results in less traumatic brain injury.

source: http://www.jssm.org/combat/1/18/v5combat-18.pdf

I think it's pretty clear that for the most part, sanctioned MMA bouts are safer.

[dj_soo]

btw, I'd say unprotected kicks to the head are no more damaging than unprotected punches to the head, and choke holds aren't that bad if there's a good ref to keep an eye on things (i.e. the idiots who don't tap and go out). Chokes aren't usually wind chokes in MMA - they are blood chokes and it takes a good 10 seconds of being kept in the hold while being out before it starts to be dangerous (which is an eternity in a fight).

[se7en]

i think mma is safer, not saying its totally safe tho. did anyone see the boxing fite between pacman vs diaz(?) recently. i thought i was watching rocky cause the guys face was getting pummeled each round that went by.

[dj_soo]

of course mma isn't totally safe. It's a combat sport - people are going to get hurt. I just think mma is less detrimental to the long-term health of a fighter than boxing as a whole...

but time will tell...

[inside]

MMA is safer, but I still perfer watching boxing over MMA any day.

[b0ld]

if I remember correctly (and if its the same one that dj soo is talking about)... The MMA fighter that died turned out to have some type of odd medical issue in the end that he didn't know of nor did his doctors. From what I understand they only found out what really happened during the autopsy... And it was revealed that even if he was in boxing he would of died in the ring...

MMA is indeed safer when it comes down to it. An MMA fighter can kick out a guys knee's or provide body shots and in the end land a few punches to the head and the fighter wouldn't be able protect himself and the ref would stop the fight. Or of course submission moves...

Boxing... Well you can't pull off of a submission move or kick out there legs... Its all body shots or headshots. Alot of small punches to the head (jabs) occur in boxing. And although it doesn't seem that much... When you have well over 100 jabs in a match... there is no doubt that it can take its toll. Sometimes you see the guys head just snap right back... Certainly not good for the head / upper neck area. And this is something that happens on a continous basis that happens in a boxers career..

[robyn]

i can tell you which one is homoeroticer

[GSG9]

mma is safer. boxing is cruel unusual punishment.

and on the topic of chokes, i know that in Brazilian jujitsu you cannot make an air choke on an opponent, only a blood choke (or lateral vascular restraint as they like to call it). can anybody confirm if this rule carries into mixed arts like ufc, cage rage, ect.?

[dj_soo]

Wind chokes aren't illegal in BJJ. Just most no-gi chokes taught are blood chokes cause they're more effective and faster.

Plenty of gi chokes for bjj that are wind chokes out there and used. The only thing that's illegal is having the hand closed on the windpipe (aka the "rape choke" as coined by joe rogan).

[GSG9]

no im certain windchokes have been banned in bjj for quite some time. but yea lvr's are much more useful so meh. but im still unsure if your allowed to windchoke in mma leagues.

[ppcock]

Originally Posted by omega_image

So Anjew and I were having a heated debate over which sport was safer.

Anjew was in firm belief that boxing was the safer sport, I was for MMA (UFC to be specific).

His argument was defended by: unprotected kicks to the head, extended choke holds, and UFC being more violent.

I responded that MMA/UFC had so many rules in place for a fighters safety that any life threatening circumstances had pretty much been accounted for and rules set in place.

I also argued that MMA/UFC was safer due to the fact that in boxing, a boxer can be KO'd, standup, and still continue to fight (probably with a concussion), where as in the UFC the fight is ended immediately.

Thoughts?

Well UFC could be safer now, but some guys still let their aggression go over the top. While the adreneline is still pumping and the guy is in a rear naked choke.. you'll notice that sometimes the reff has to physically pull the arms away.
which could be potentially more dangerous. It's pretty easy to kill someone with a choke.

[dj_soo]

Originally Posted by GSG9

no im certain windchokes have been banned in bjj for quite some time. but yea lvr's are much more useful so meh. but im still unsure if your allowed to windchoke in mma leagues.

I've been taking BJJ for 2 years now and we get taught wind chokes all the time (a lot of gi chokes end up being wind chokes rather than blood chokes) although it may differ depending on the tourney rules.

Granted, it could just be that a lot of gi chokes we get taught accidentally end up cutting off the wind.

[GSG9]

yea its pretty easy to fuck up or do both chokes at once with some holds.

[Grapes]

You know what? I'm a fan of boxing and MMA, and I don't find anything in this thread interesting. Except maybe robyn's post.

They're both dangerous, the fighters know what they're getting themselves into, they still love the sport and some are able to make a good living from it, so be it, end of story.

[dj_soo]

Originally Posted by GSG9

yea its pretty easy to fuck up or do both chokes at once with some holds.

ADCC on the other hand does not have a ban on wind chokes other than the hand closed on the windpipe.