MMA: Time For America To Accept Its Arrival and The Violence That Comes With It

While Mixed Martial Arts has become the latest 'big thing' among Americans,

many critics say that the sport is too violent, too barbaric, and most importantly

too dangerous. MMA after all is a sport where the fighter's goal is to either knock

the opponent down or pin him into submission. Its supporters however will say

that the sport is not any more violent than any combat sport such as boxing.

It raises the question: what do the statistics say on the issue? So far there has

only been one death in a sanctioned MMA event, with the tragic death of Sam

Vasquez in a Renegades Extreme Fighting Event that took place on October 30,

2007. Sam Vasquez was knocked out in the third round and was taken to Saint

Joseph Medical Center’s Critical Care Unit after losing consciousness shortly after

the match. Vasquez had two surgeries to remove blood clots in his brain and

went into a coma shortly after the second surgery. Vasquez never came out of

the coma and died 42 days after the fight on November 30, 2007. Vasquez's

death was officially determined to have happened because of complications due

to blunt trauma of the head with a subdural hemorrhage. Sam Vasquez's death

was the first of its kind in a sanctioned MMA event. Compared to boxing, which

had 52 deaths in 2007, that number is relatively low. Many experts say that MMA

is much less dangerous than boxing because there are far less blows to the head.

Boxing is in no way any more violent or barbaric than MMA and is a much more

dangerous sport to participate in. MMA's premier leagues all have safety

regulations to prevent serious injury and death from happening. MMA is here to

stay and Americans need to accept it and the violence that will come with it.

Sources:
http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php/Category:2007_Deaths

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5346309.html