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LONGEVITY IN COMBAT SPORTS: MMA VERSUS BOXING

Since the UFC pushes Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) to the mainstream, an age old question remains: Why Is MMA safer then boxing? The major premise behind the debate has always been that unlike boxing, in MMA, there are more routes to success compared to striking your opponent. Highlighting the obvious, you will find less debilitating routes to success, therefore making some reductions in MMA less damaging on a fighter’s body and mind. The Unified Rules of MMA make it possible for an MMA fighter to win a bout by judges’ decision or by possibly submitting their competitor. The resulting idea is that MMA athletes suffer fewer traumatic injuries and the odds are lessened that they might become punch drunk. However, proponents of boxing are always quick to point out the bigger gloves employed in MMA and also the fact that the rules allowing for leg elbows and strikes. Therefore”it’s time” to have an in-depth look to either side of this argument. Before getting into the thick of this debate, I’d like to highlight one of the key reasons I chose to write this article. Shawn O’Sullivan, a retired fighter that I’ve met many occasions, lives in my hometown. On paper, his life seems like a success story. However the actual truth is his boxing profession killed his odds of having a successful life after his career was finished. A brief documentary about his story can be found below.Many would believe O’Sullivan’s career marginally illustrious because he was the 1981 World Amateur Champion, 1981 Canadian Athlete of the Year and 1984 Olympic Silver medalist at light middleweight. Also many consider his gold medal bout against Frank Tate very controversial as it appeared like the fix has been in. Despite scoring two standing 8 counts in around two the judges awarded that round to Tate. Upon going expert, he found himself quickly retired in 1988 with failed comebacks in both 1991 and 1997. Shawn’s overall listing of 23-5-0, together with 16 knockouts passed him without accomplishing his dreams of competing in a world title bout. Following four more fights in 1997, a neurologist refused to renew the permit he needed to continue boxing due to brain damage he saw during a CAT scan. Now, O’Sullivan is residing with the difficulties of brain damage, however, he doesn’t regret his career in boxing. During my many discussions with O’Sullivan, he practically always slurred his speech also had difficulties recalling parts of his lifetime. Regrettably, his ability to share his story is all he has to show for his illustrious career. However, that is hindered as a result of the culmination of blows to the head that he endured during his boxing career. O’Sullivan suffers from fighter’s dementia, commonly known as being”punch drunk” caused partially as a result of his fighting style and gruelling sparring sessions at the gym. If you want to find out exactly what I mean, take a few minutes and watch his bout against Armando Martinez. What remains untold to most, and something that highlights the relevance of this article is that O’Sullivan was pushed into boxing by his first coach: his dad. Rumors are his dad was letting his son spar against heavyweights and even bigger guys as part of the daily reality test for O’Sullivan. As parents, an individual may feel uncomfortable recommending your kid partake in any battle sport from this fear of the long term consequences. Therefore signing your child up to either boxing or MMA training can become a question of which can be safer? Is there a possibility you could help select the lesser of two so-called evils. Until recently the whole debate behind MMA is safer then Boxing was entirely theoretical. There remains to be small scientific facts and findings to support the claim. Most recently the University of Alberta’s Dr. Shelby Karpman led a review of over a decade’s worth of health care exams from approximately 1,700 fighters in Edmonton, Canada. According to the study, Fifty-nine percent of MMA athletes sustained some form of harm, compared to 50 per cent of boxers. But, fighters were likely to eliminate consciousness in a bout: seven per cent versus four percent for MMA fighters. Irrespective of the facts to as which game is safer, ” The Canadian Medical Association has called for a ban on both MMA and boxing. By highlighting a 2014 University of Toronto study showed an MMA fighter suffered a traumatic brain injury in almost a third of specialist spells. It is not my intention to cast doubt onto the protection of a game, nevertheless both boxing and MMA have experienced instances of deaths that are well documented. Lately a MMA fighter died due to complications cutting weight. John McCain, who branded the game of MMA”human cockfighting,” sat ringside at the 1995 boxing death of Jimmy Garcia. However, very few severe life threatening injuries in MMA come into mind as no one have happened on its main stage. A fighter’s passing within the Octagon has never happened and hopefully it never will. But it’s something which must be in the back of everybody’s mind once we see fighters getting knocked out lifelessly. Rendering an opponent not only defenceless but unconscious remains to be the name of the fight game if it’s MMA or Boxing. That is where a fighter’s fanfare, bonus money and constant hype derives. UFC President Dana White announced MMA the”safest sport 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 because they lack head trauma all together and present little risk of death. Touting up safety should include a responsibility to fully study the ramifications of your game. The construction on what will be known as the UFC Athlete Health and Performance Center starts this shortly and will take 15 months to complete. Next to health insurance for training injuries, this is MMA’s second most important step towards taking on more of a top role in sport security. With that said, Dana’s end game is that Scientific study will eventually brand MMA as a”safer” choice for fight sport athletes when compared with boxing. However, it would just further the game’s inverse relationship. Since MMA increases in popularity, boxing’s visibility at the national consciousness continues to fall and it’s easy to finger stage. It also can not be stressed enough that the first generation of fighters are just getting out of the game over the last couple of years. Science has an incredibly small sample dimension to check at in terms of aging MMA fighters right now, though UFC originals such as Gary Goodridge are already feeling the consequences. We probably still need a few more”generations” of fighters to retire and grow old to have an actual feel for the effects of the sport on them as they age. And by that I mean fighters who have had to compete with other high level athletes, not boxers who had been the best of a sport that was very much in the developmental phases. Fighters like George St Pierre, Demetrious Johnson and Ronda Rousey are unlikely to face any longstanding consequences of brain injury primarily due to their runs of desire as well as their capacity to prevent substantial harm. Johnson recently said on the Joe Rogan Expertise that”There is not enough money in the world for me to risk brain damage” Johnson, like many other educated fighters, understands that taking too much damage in his career will harm his longevity both inside and outside the game, and that’s why he is so aware of his security in the Octagon. Maybe that is the main reason he’s never lost consciousness from the Octagon. Whatever the case, it’s tough to utilize findings of the past to determine the safety of the sport now. So much constantly changes within the sport of MMA that trying to compare between eras is essentially the exact same in attempting to compare very different sports. Maybe then a much better approach isn’t to look at the sport’s past, and instead on its present as time goes on. The debate about which sport is safer because of the glove size is moot. The quantity 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 safer than boxing is actually the glove size. The boxing glove was created to protect the hands, not the person being punched. However MMA professionals assert that they use the bare minimum in hand protection. Any argument surrounding the fact that a hand will crack until the mind is not the most attractive approach to advocate for a safer game. The same holds for the standing eight count. Arguing that allowing a concussed fighter to continue in a fight after being knocked down just furthers brain trauma. In MMA we see a lot follow up punches following a fighter is left unconscious — maybe equally damaging to permitting a fighter to continue after receiving devastating blows. There are so many factors in determining the devastation of a landed punch–from technique to timing, to whether or not the receiver saw the punch coming–that it would be virtually impossible to determine in a live match that glove size could have caused the maximum harm. What’s more, there are a number of different elements and rules that deciding on which sport is safer. The average duration of a Boxing match is normally longer then that of an MMA fight. There are many variables that are individualistic to the fighter. I’d like to announce each game equally as dangerous, but until additional research is completed, an individual can not create this kind of statement with much assurance. The inherent dangers in both sports are intrinsically linked. The capability of a fighter to achieve longevity in the sport is more dependant on the abilities of this fighter themselves then their respective sports parameters alone. Generalizing which is safer with no scientific proof to support such a claim remains a matter of opinion.
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