Boxing vs MMA: Why athletes remain at higher risk in Boxing than Mixed Martial Arts?

Combat sports fans often give their opinion on the ever-lasting debate over the most brutal sport on Planet Earth - the Boxing vs MMA clash. When fighters lace up their gloves and step inside the ring or octagon to face their opponents, they apparently put their lives at stake. While the majority of those ‘bravehearts’ have been fortunate enough to make it back home, a tragic minority has gone on to suffer fatal injuries while fighting.

Over the years, numerous MMA fighters and boxers have died inside the ring and octagon, but reports suggest that fatality due to boxing injuries have been way higher if compared to the MMA. In 2019, CNN surveyed and revealed that almost 13 boxers breathed their last inside the boxing ring annually. However, fortunately, no UFC fighter has ever faced such a misfortune while fighting inside the octagon.

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 The inevitable Boxing vs MMA comparison 

Talking about Boxing vs MMA, MMA fights are mostly of three rounds or five rounds. In UFC, main-event bouts are conducted for five rounds, while the undercard fights are of three rounds. However, boxing events are mostly staged for 10 rounds or 12 rounds.

Earlier, boxing was hosted for 15 rounds which were later reduced in professional events. The nature of both sports also creates a major difference in terms of boxing injuries and MMA injuries.

While boxing is just a mere part of the entire MMA ruleset, the respective gloves of each sport create a lot of impacts. In professional boxing bouts, boxers wear 8-10 ounce gloves which are deadly enough to hamper a human skull if hit badly. Meanwhile, UFC and other MMA leagues like One and Bellator uses 4-6 ounce gloves and are half-bare. Thus, both boxing and MMA has had witnessed severe vicious injuries, but boxing sadly has had more fatalities for the record.

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Boxing vs MMA: Few unfortunate deaths in boxing or boxing injuries

Frank Campbell (1930)

One of the oldest forms of combat sports witnessed an ill-fated event when Frank Campbell faced Max Baer in 1930. During the fight, Baer hit Frank with a right hand on his head. Frank Campbell told his corner that he felt something has broken inside his head. After losing the fight via KO in 5th round, Frank died the following day due to brain damage, making it one of the worst boxing injuries of all-time.

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Roman Simakov (2011)

Roman Simakov faced Sergey Kovalev in an intense battle in 2011. However, the blockbuster event concluded with misery, as Simakov lost his life after facing brain injuries and the victory apparently drove Kovalev to depression. He has been vocal about the dangers of stepping the boxing ring often in the past and has claimed it to be one of the most unfortunate boxing injuries.

Maxim Dadashev (2019)

Maxim Dadashev passed away after losing against Subriel Matias in 2019. The duo locked horns for the settlement of the IBF light-welterweight championship. However, Dadashev faced several brains injuries in the fight, which ultimately cost him his life. From Deontay Wilder to Tyson Fury, nearly all had mourned over the incident and claimed that such boxing injuries justify the effort they put in the ring.

Apart from that, boxing has faced over 1200 deaths since its inception and tragedy occurs every year. Meanwhile, MMA injuries or fatalities have been reported as below 20 till date. UFC, One Championship, Bellator are some of the fortunate global organisations to have never witnessed the death of a fighter while competing inside the octagon. However, the debate of which is the more brutal sport - Boxing vs MMA, will seemingly sustain forever. The sport of boxing has been cursed with may more fatalities and blessed with more revenue sales, if compared with the MMA. 

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