MMA and Head Trauma

As a society, we love sports. Sports make billions of dollars every year, so they’re certainly not going anywhere. What’s less discussed about sports than say a game winning homerun, or who’s going to be performing at the superbowl, are the long term health detriments to players. Mixed Martial Arts is not an exception to sports in that it can cause long term head trauma to those who participate. Football players, Ice Hockey players, Boxers, and even Baseball players have all had concussions, and especially in the case of football, this is accepted as mostly normal. More recently people have started to take notice of the long term effects of this head trauma, looking at football players who are now suffering from it and occasionally fighters from different combat sports. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is degenerative brain disease that affects the memory, speech, and emotions of those who have it. Symptoms include memory loss, slurred speech, explosive behavior and depression.

This also says something about us as a society that we are aware of this in sports and still a good portion of us love to watch sunday night football and gamble in fantasy leagues. People are literally being paid millions of dollars to give themselves brain damage and sell tickets, merchandise, and advertise. That’s not to say we all think that this is ok, but even if we don’t think it’s ok are we going to stop watching football, or boxing, or UFC events? Most people don’t, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.

People that fight in the UFC signed a contract to fight in the UFC and be televised, that was 100% their choice. Almost all fighters don’t regret this either, they were doing what they loved for a living and that made it worth it to them. So should we feel guilty for watching it on live TV? Maybe, but I’m not going to let that get in the way of my love for MMA or Muay Thai, or any other sport for that matter. I’m not forcing people to fight in the UFC, so I’m not going to act responsible for the consequences.

Cusimano, Michael D. Hutchinson, Michael D. Lawrence, David W. Schweizer, Tom A. Mar 21, 2014. Head Trauma in Mixed Martial Arts. Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Hutchinson, Michael. Jan 10, 2016 Opinion: The Harsh Reality of knockouts, concussions, and fighter health. Bloody Elbow.

McKee, A C. July, 2009 What is CTE? Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine. Boston Massachusetts.