The main concern most people voice, when they learn I am training for MMA, is safety. This is an excerpt from “Blood in the Cage” by L. Jon Wertheim explaining the difference between boxing, “The Sweet Science”, and MMA.
While boxers don’t battle in a steel cage or punch opponents when they are on the ground, they do something much more perilous; they trade head shots for three-minute rounds. Factor in sparring sessions, and the cumulative effect is devastating. If Muhammad Ali, the sport’s most decorated champion, is an uncomfortable reminder of boxing's brutality, there are thousands of others who share his fate.
Mixed martial arts might involve more blood and broken bones, but repeated head trauma is not part of the equation. A downed fighter isn’t given a standing eight count to ‘clear the cobwebs’ before his opponent delivers more blows to the head; rather, he can take the fight to the ground and ward off punches with wrestling moves. A staggering fighter can clutch and grab all he wants. And if he’s truly in dancer, he can tap out without being stigmatized as a coward. What’s more, the average boxing match is more than three times as long as the average MMA fight. “You’re going to see worse cuts in MMA than in boxing, especially with longer rounds, and there are more knockouts,’ says Dr. Margaret Goodman, past chairwoman of the Nevada State Athletics Commission’s Medical Advisory Board. ‘But overall, is it safer than boxing? I think so. Absolutely. You don’t have ten rounds of guys taking shots to the head.’
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