MMA Association and its members are fully aware of the importance of creating awareness with regards to the injuries that are consistenly incurred by the fighters.
We would like all members to read the following article with regards to injuries:
To date there has been limited research into the incidence and aetiology of injuries in MMA competitions. Recently Dr George Buse undertook a study to identify the primary medical issues that may be associated with MMA competition by determining the types and proportions of match stoppages (‘No holds barred sport fighting: a 10-year review of mixed martial arts competition’, British Journal of Sports Medicine2006: 40, 169-172). Dr Buse reviewed video footage of 1,284 men competing in 642 televised matches between November 1993 and November 2003. Based on the legal techniques and target areas, Dr Buse expected that there would be four key categories of match stoppage:
* Head impact (blunt force to the head).
*Musculoskeletal stress (joint lock, blunt orthopaedic trauma or other apparent musculoskeletal trauma).
* Neck choke (submission or stoppage due to the afflicted competitor being asphyxiated or unconscious).
* Miscellaneous trauma (other mechanisms of match stoppages not included in above categories).
Of the 642 matches, 182 (28%) were stopped because of head impact (punch, knee strikes, elbow strikes, kicks, slam to ground or head stomp), of which 62 (34%) involved a knockout and 120 (65%) a technical knockout. One hundred and six (16%) of the bouts were stopped because of musculoskeletal stress (elbow, ankle, shoulder and knee locks causing hyper-mobilisation of the joint through forceful distraction, hyperextension and/or rotational manipulation; and neck cranks – forceful manipulation of the opponent’s head on neck). Ninety-one (14%) were stopped through the application of a neck choke and 83 (13%) because of miscellaneous trauma. The rest of the matches ended because the match time was up or competitors were disqualified.
Competitors who lost as a result of one of the four key mechanisms were significantly older than their opponents, which supports the findings of previous research in which martial arts injury incidence is proportional to age. This study identified head impact as a salient medical issue in MMA competition and the proportion of matches stopped because of head impact was higher than has been documented in other full-contact combat sports (eg, boxing, kick-boxing).
Be prepared at ringside II
As seems to happen, a dearth of research is followed by a crop of studies in swift succession. A US team based in Maryland has recently completed another study investigating injury in professional MMA competitions (‘Incidence of injury in professional mixed martial arts competitions’, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine2006: 136-142). The study design differs from our first review and throws up some interesting conclusions.
Data was collected between September 2001 and December 2004 from all professional MMA events taking place in the state of Nevada, US. A total of 171 MMA matches involving 220 different competitors took place during the study period, producing 96 injuries to 78 fighters. The overall injury rate was 28.6 injuries per 100 fight participations or 12.5 injuries per 100 competitor rounds. The main findings of the study were:
* Of the 171 matches fought, 69 (40%) ended with at least one injured fighter.
* The majority of recorded injuries were to the facial region. Facial cuts were the most common injury (48%), followed by hand injury (13%), nose (10%) and eye (8%).
* After adjusting for weight and match outcome, older age was associated with significantly increased risk of injury.
* Competitors who lost a match by knockout or technical knockout ran a greater risk of injury.
* Incidence of injury increased with the length of the fight; matches lasting four or five rounds were more likely to include a fighter who suffered an injury.
In conclusion, with an overall injury rate of 28.6 injuries per 100 fight participations, MMA competitions demonstrate a high overall rate of injury, while keeping with other combat sports involving striking.