Is it me or is it that mma is safer than football?

Question

Ive played football when I was in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade and I always get injured. Neck injuries, back injuries, concussions, and more. And Ive been doing mma for a year and NO INJURIES for me. WOW I think those people who say mma should be ban or other stuff about the sport need to learn more about to sport.

Answer 1

There are over a million kids playing HS football alone.  That doesn't count Pop Warner, college, or pros.  How many people do MMA seriously, a few thousand?

You'd have to get statistics that show injuries per participant, not just total injuries.  For example, if you go with injuries per participant then soccer is more dangerous that football.

Answer 2

Yes, MMA is safer than most other sports actually. So far only one person has ever died in a regulated MMA competition. There are a lot more deaths in boxing and football than MMA.

Answer 3

The first two to reply to your question are completely off-base and either did not understand your position or do not understand MMA.

Practiced safely, MMA is safer than boxing and football. Unlike in boxing, in MMA you have the (often-exercised) option to go to the ground and change the fight from a striking game to grappling/positioning game. Unlike in football, you are not crashing into your opponent head first or slamming your opponent into the ground at every opportunity. MMA is very technical, and with proper training the chances for common, serious sports injuries are slim.

However, many techniques in MMA can easily put one in the hospital. I've personally witnessed an arm-bar go too far (snap, snap, pop!). I've knocked someone out cold with a well-timed cross-hook-uppercut combo. I've had the inside of my cheek torn up the inside so badly that I couldn't eat solid foods for a week. Things can go wrong in MMA very easily, very seriously.

It is proper training methods and technical, focused approach that make MMA safer in practice than other full-contact sports.

-----

As an aside, I'd like to respond to Mr. Aaron J and those who share his background and stand. Here is the key phrase:

"I watch it [MMA] every now and then as I enjoy the technical aspects of the sport. However, to say that is is any less of a risk than football you are only fooling yourself and are sadly mistaken."

I fail to see how your occasional watching MMA qualifies you to speak about the dangers of MMA *training*. This is not a slander against you, however, it illustrates that your post is based on second-hand knowledge and assumptions. Those of us who have trained in both full contact sports (such as football, hockey, rugby) and MMA are considerably more qualified to speak about the training methods and safety than a passive observer. All due respect, I feel happily correct about my conclusions, given my extensive, direct, first-hand experience...

Answer 4

You're kidding yourself. Blunt force trauma to the skull causes a number of problems that will develop later on in life at the least. It's the same as football.

You should also look into the stats of number of football players, and amount of practice and games compared to that in MMA.

Drew- You solidified my POV from your statement, and I got the question completely. Oh and for the record, it is unsportsman like and illegal to lead with the head or slam anybody's head on the ground in football. Technical or not, MMA is a sport that revolve's around manipulating joints to cause pain, and punching and kicking to cause pain or other damage in order to make the individual quit. I am not out to slander MMA, and watch it every now and then as I enjoy the technical aspects of the sport. However, to say that is is any less of a risk than football you are only fooling yourself and are sadly mistaken.

Answer 5

I would agree that it's safer than football. You get a rediculous amount of injuries in football. I mean, yes concussive trauma to the head is pretty bad, but each time you get tackled gives you so much subluxation (yeah, im breakin out the chiropractic lingo) it's not even funny. Besides, the proof is in the pudding; how many people get crippled in MMA vs football?

You should expect to get injuries in any full contact sport, including Mixed Martial Arts. That being said, unless you're doing flying knees to the face in training (wtf?), you usually won't encounter anything as damaging as a getting tackled or dog-piled. Furthermore, most of the damage that you'll endure that is comparable to what you might come across in football will only happen in actual matches -- which isn't even guaranteed. With football, on the other hand, you can expect some full-throttle body-on-body collisions even in practices.

Though, I think that you should prepare for some injuries in your MMA training (as they will come), you are right that plenty of commonly embraced sports (such as football, hocky, and rugby) are more dangerous than MMA.

Answer 6

You're not training hard enough if you've had no injuries.

Face it. You're a poser.