Is MMA Safe? Find Out If Mixed Martial Arts is Safe to Partake In

Mixed martial arts, also known as MMA, is a rapidly growing combat sport that now has millions of fans and is raking in billions of dollars a year. With such explosive growth, many people are wondering how safe the sport really is. I recently, for example, showed my mother some clips of one of my favorite fighters--Georges St. Pierre--and she was amazed that he didn't seriously injure the other fighters with ground strikes. She was even appalled when I showed her some of Shogun's fights in Japan, where head stomps to a grounded opponent were legal.

There have been conflicting studies regarding the concussion rate of MMA, but it's at least comparable to other combat sports like kickboxing and boxing. The main difference between MMA and the other two is that a fighter is more likely to suffer multiple concussions in a short period of time in kickboxing and boxing since he is able to stand back up after being knocked down. In MMA, a downed fighter is often finished with ground strikes or a submission. While he is taking additional punishment after being rocked, this will also happen in boxing after he has stood up. That said, a fully unconscious fighter is at risk of getting hit one or two additional times before the referee stops the fight in an MMA match, which can lead to additional injury.

Thiago Alves' recent rejection of his fight license due to an arterial abnormality in his brain outlines the safety procedures present in the sport. They will not allow fighters to fight if they are at risk, which greatly reduces the odds of a serious injury occurring. Unfortunately this isn't always the case, as some fighters step into the ring just weeks out of the hospital due to staph infections or something else--Minotauro Nogueira is one example.

While MMA is comparable to other combat sports in regard to the amount of brain trauma received, it does lend itself to many more minor injuries. The smaller gloves and use of elbows will often cause nose breaks and small lacerations that require stitches after the fight. While this is only a minor nuisance, it still outlines how dangerous the sport really can be. I have seen fighters with cuts that were deep enough to see bone. While these are rare, they take a significant amount of time to recover from and pose a great risk of reopening in later fights due to accumulation of scar tissue. With the incorporation of takedowns and grappling, accidental breaks, sprains, and pulls are pretty common - especially if the fighters end up in an awkward position. Certain submissions can hyperextend joints or break bones, especially if the fighter doesn't tap. That said, serious injuries are pretty rare.

While MMA is safe in that the fighters are unlikely to suffer long-term brain damage or serious injury, they will still accumulate many smaller ones. These make careers relatively short because tendons and ligaments can only be repaired so many times before it becomes futile. As such, MMA fighters seem to age disproportionately fast, especially if they take a lot of damage in their fights. A successful career of more than ten years is rare. Overall, I'd say that MMA is safe to engage in if you don't mind getting banged up. You won't look pretty after a fight, but you'll be safe in the knowledge that your overall health and well-being is not at risk (unlike some other sports.)

Sources:
Gregory H. Bledsoe, Edbert B. Hsu, Jurek George Grabowski, Justin D. Brill, Guohua Li, "Incidence of Injury in Professional Mixed Martial Arts Competitions." John Hopkins University
"Does Mixed Martial Arts Pose a Greater Risk of Concussion than Boxing or Kickboxing?" MMA Blogger