Mixed Martial Arts - Injuries

Since the first UFC in 1993, MMA competitions have changed a lot mainly because of the introduction of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Things can get really dirty inside the cage when both the fighters get to the farthest of their skills, sport, and spirit.

Rate of injuries

Recently in a meta-analysis which showed injury data in MMA, it was found that −

• Incidences of injuries were estimated to be about 228.7 injuries in every 1000 fights.

• This data is greater than that of judo (44/1000), taekwondo (79.4/1000), amateur boxing (77.7/1000), professional boxing (118 to 250.6/1000).

Patterns of injuries

The injury pattern in MMA is quite similar to that of professional boxing. The most commonly injured body part is the head, then the wrists, then fractures, and the least are concussions.

Mental health of fighters

It has been found out that fighters with more than 6 years of experience in these types of fights, were observed to have reductions in their size of hippocampus and thalamus and fighters with more than 12 years of experience in the same were observed to have reductions in memory and alertness as a result of reduction in their hippocampus and thalamus.

Fatalities

Till date, there have been seven known deaths in and due to MMA. All these cases are incidents after 2007 as before then there were no documented cases of deaths in MMA.

From 2007 to 2010, two fighters had died because of the fights, Sam Vasquez on 30^th of November in 2007 and Michael Kirkham from South Carolina on June 28^th of 2010.